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💣🏟️ Bombs, Borders & Broken Systems 🇮🇷🚧

💣🏟️ Bombs, Borders & Broken Systems 🇮🇷🚧

From Tehran to Tijuana, this week’s flashpoints reveal a world teetering between escalation and opportunity—where conflict, cartel power, and immigration gridlock demand urgent clarity.

Marco Lopez
June 23, 2025

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What’s New This Week

Good morning, this week, America crossed a line. With bombs dropped on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the U.S. has entered a dangerous new war in the Middle East—igniting fears of regional retaliation, energy shocks, and another chapter of forever conflict. Meanwhile, at home and across our hemisphere, we weigh the meaning of global competition, economic resilience, and border security in a world on edge.

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Inside Special Sections

Trade Winds: As the World Cup nears, North America celebrates unity—while the Enhanced Games challenge the meaning of fair competition.
Power Move: Immigration gridlock is no longer just a humanitarian issue—it’s an economic crisis choking growth across essential U.S. industries.
The Border Buzz: Colombian mercenaries are now training Mexico’s cartels—marking a dangerous shift in the border security threat landscape.

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The Quick Courier

⚠️ U.S. Bombs Iran
President Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—marking U.S. entry into the Israel–Iran war, raising oil volatility and the threat of regional escalation

ICE Reality Check
Worksite raids are rising again—spotlighting a broken system that punishes workers but still fails to modernize legal pathways.

Faith vs. Fear
L.A.’s Archbishop calls Trump’s deportation plan “cruel and irrational,” warning it weaponizes fear in immigrant communities.

Border Trade on the Brink
Tariffs could decimate cross-border trade routes—putting $50 billion in goods and thousands of U.S.–Mexico jobs at immediate risk.

Port Slowdown Alert
Truckers at the Port of L.A. report lighter hauls—raising fresh concerns about supply chain volatility and trade demand.

Tariff Talk Gets Real
At a top CFO summit, leaders warned tariffs are slicing margins, distorting decisions, and leaving businesses scrambling for answers.

Tunnel Tactics Resurface
Authorities uncovered a cross-border drug tunnel linking Mexico to California—proving smugglers still dig deeper than our policies.

$815K in the Trunk
CBP officers seized over $800K hidden in a vehicle at the border—another reminder of how smuggling flows both ways.

Regional Airports Take Flight
Nearshoring is breathing new life into U.S. regional airports—turning overlooked hubs into key players in cross-border logistics.

Trade Winds

One Year to the World Cup—But What Kind of Competition Are We Celebrating?

Enhanced Games

As North America prepares to host the 2026 World Cup, we’re celebrating more than just a game—we’re investing in infrastructure, tourism, and a spirit of international unity. With the U.S., Mexico, and Canada teaming up, this event is a powerful statement about shared values and a shared future.

But there’s a wildcard in the same year: the Enhanced Games, a new pro-doping athletic competition set to debut in Las Vegas. Backed by tech billionaires and political insiders, the Enhanced Games throws out traditional anti-doping rules and pays up to $1 million for world records. One swimmer already broke a world-best time in a private trial—while on steroids.

It’s an experiment in radical freedom, marketed as “science meets sport.” Some see it as the future. Others, including international athletic bodies, are calling it a reckless spectacle.

Here’s the contrast:
The World Cup is collaboration. The Enhanced Games are disruption.
One is about countries working together. The other is about individuals pushing limits—rules optional.

For me, it raises a bigger question:
What kind of competition do we want to promote—one that unites us, or one that redefines the rules entirely?

As we get closer to 2026, it’s a question worth asking—not just for athletes, but for investors, policymakers, and everyone shaping what comes next.

Would you watch the Enhanced Games?

Power Move

Broken System, Broken Supply Chains: Why Immigration Reform Is the Key to Economic Growth

Immigration Reform

When farmers rally for immigration reform, you know something is deeply off. The recent protests by U.S. agricultural producers—who rely heavily on immigrant labor—expose a reality that extends far beyond the fields.

Right now, crops are rotting, construction sites sit idle, and restaurants can’t fill shifts. Why? Because the U.S. immigration system is outdated, overly complex, and totally mismatched with today’s labor market.

The same forces squeezing farms are hitting manufacturing lines, tourism hubs, elder care facilities, and hospitals. Demand for workers is growing—but legal pathways to fill those jobs haven’t evolved. Instead of modernizing visas or building binational workforce pipelines, we’re seeing political grandstanding and inaction.

This isn’t just a humanitarian issue. It’s an economic emergency.

The construction industry faces over 500,000 unfilled jobs—many in critical infrastructure projects.
Hospitals and eldercare facilities are short-staffed, especially in rural and border communities.
Tourism and hospitality—especially in cross-border destinations—are struggling to rebound fully post-COVID without the workforce to match demand.
And in manufacturing, nearshoring to Mexico creates opportunities that are stalling without labor alignment across borders.

The U.S. and Mexico should be building workforce coalitions, not border walls. Reforming immigration—particularly for essential industries—would strengthen trade, support growth, and increase competitiveness in a rapidly shifting global economy.

The power move? Ditch the partisan noise. Build a legal immigration system that reflects economic reality. Our future depends on it.

The Border Buzz

From Medellín to Michoacán: How Colombia’s Shadow Soldiers Are Changing the Border Threat

Cartel Recruitment

The cartels aren’t just recruiting—they’re outsourcing. According to new reports, Colombian ex-soldiers, many trained in special forces and counterinsurgency, are now working for Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). They’re being used not just as hitmen, but as trainers—bringing battlefield tactics to street wars and drug routes.

This isn’t just a Mexican problem. It’s a hemispheric security shift.

Colombian mercenaries have a long history of working in conflict zones—Yemen, Haiti, Iraq. Now they’re flowing into Mexico, with U.S. intelligence officials quietly tracking how this may affect cartel operations along the U.S. border. Think: more disciplined armed cells, more brutal enforcement, and more sophisticated cross-border strategies.

It’s also a wake-up call for our political debate.

Washington keeps arguing over walls, deportations, and fentanyl test strips. But while that debate drags on, cartels are building private armies with global talent pipelines. If that doesn’t redefine what “border security” needs to mean in 2025, what will?

To be clear: more military training on the cartel side doesn’t just mean more violence in Mexico—it means more risk to U.S. agents, ports of entry, and even local law enforcement in places like Arizona and Texas.

The border buzz this week? It’s no longer just about drugs or migration. It’s about who controls the battlefield—and how prepared we are for a fight we no longer fully understand.

Power Poll

Do you believe the U.S. should create a more streamlined legal pathway for immigrant workers in essential industries like agriculture and manufacturing?

Immigrant workers are vital to the U.S. economy, yet policies remain outdated. Should the U.S. create a clearer legal pathway or tighten restrictions? Vote now!

Join the Conversation

Thanks for reading this edition of my newsletter! I'd love to hear from you. Share your thoughts about what you think are the most critical issues that need to be addressed. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on social media using the hashtag #Intermestic.