JACKSON COUNTY — A woman facing charges for a triple-fatal Kansas crash made a court appearance via video Monday, according to Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller.

Maria De Jesus Perez-Marquez, 49, Omaha, arrested last week by U.S. Marshals in Nebraska was extradited to Kansas and held without bond, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse. On Monday, a judge during the status hearing refused to set a bond and she remains in custody.

On October 11, she didn’t show for a hearing but was charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated battery and reckless driving for the November 2017 crash near Holton that killed the mother, sister and uncle of two Kansas high school football players shortly after the family watched the boys’ Sabetha team win a state football championship. Two other people were injured.

Perez-Marquez will have an opportunity to request a bond modification during her next court appearance set for 10a.m. on November 7, according to Miller.

NIXA, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man has been charged with stealing a 40-foot trailer loaded with 300 bales of hay in southwest Missouri.

30-year-old Colton Inmon posted bond Monday. He was charged last week with second-degree burglary and felony stealing. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Court documents say the investigation began in August when a Christian County man reported that the trailer was gone, along with hay bales that were worth more than $13,000.

After the property owner got a tip that Inman was driving the trailer, a deputy went to Inmon’s house. Court documents say the deputy found that the trailer’s VIN plate had been removed and its logo painted black.

Court documents say a co-conspirator later confessed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants to order the end of the constitutional right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born in the United States.

Trump made the comments to “Axios on HBO” ahead of midterm elections that he has sought to focus on his hardline immigration policies. Trump, seeking to energize his supporters and help Republicans keep control of Congress, has stoked anxiety about a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the U.S.-Mexico border. He is dispatching additional troops and saying he’ll set up tent cities for asylum seekers.

Revoking birthright citizenship would spark a court fight over whether the president has the unilateral ability to change an amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment guarantees that right for all children born in the U.S.

Asked about the legality of such an executive order, Trump said, “they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

Trump added: “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States.”

An excerpt of the interview was posted on Axios’ website on Tuesday.

The president said White House lawyers are reviewing his proposal. It’s unclear how quickly he would act on an executive order.

In the final days before the Nov. 6 midterms, Trump has emphasized immigration, as he seeks to counter Democratic enthusiasm. Trump believes that his campaign pledges, including his much vaunted and still-unfulfilled promise to quickly build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, are still rallying cries for his base and that this latest focus will further erode the enthusiasm gap.

The first line of the 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

The Axios HBO series debuts on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said it’s sending 5,200 troops to the Southwest border in an extraordinary military operation ordered up just a week before midterm elections in which President Donald Trump has put a sharp focus on Central American migrants moving north in slow-moving caravans that are still hundreds of miles from the U.S.

Kansas Guardsmen will also be sent to Arizona to work with the Arizona National Guard currently supporting Customs Border Patrol Southwest Border Operations.  

The number of troops being deployed is more than double the 2,000 who are in Syria fighting the Islamic State group.

Trump, eager to keep voters focused on illegal immigration in the lead-up to the elections, stepped up his dire warnings about the caravans, tweeting, “This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”

But any migrants who complete the long trek to the southern U.S. border already face major hurdles — both physical and bureaucratic — to being allowed into the United States.

In an interview Monday, Trump said the U.S. would build “tent cities” for asylum seekers.

“We’re going to put tents up all over the place,” told Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham. “They’re going to be very nice and they’re going to wait and if they don’t get asylum, they get out.”

Under current protocol, migrants who clear an initial screening are often released until their cases are decided in immigration court, which can take several years.

Trump denied his focus on the caravan is intended to help Republicans in next week’s midterms, saying, “This has nothing to do with elections.”

The Pentagon’s “Operation Faithful Patriot” was described by the commander of U.S. Northern Command as an effort to help Customs and Border Protection “harden the southern border” by stiffening defenses at and near legal entry points. Advanced helicopters will allow border protection agents to swoop down on migrants trying to cross illegally, said Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy.

Troops planned to bring heavy concertina wiring to unspool across open spaces between ports.

“We will not allow a large group to enter the U.S. in an unlawful and unsafe manner,” said Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

Eight hundred troops already are on their way to southern Texas, O’Shaughnessy said, and their numbers will top 5,200 by week’s end. Some of the troops will be armed. He said troops would focus first on Texas, followed by Arizona and then California.

The troops will join the more than 2,000 National Guardsmen that Trump has already deployed to the border. It remained unclear Monday why the administration was choosing to send active-duty troops given that they will be limited to performing the same support functions the Guard already is doing.

The number of people in the first migrant caravan headed toward the U.S. has dwindled to about 4,000 from about 7,000 last week, though a second one was gaining steam and marked by violence. About 600 migrants in the second group tried to cross a bridge from Guatemala to Mexico en masse Monday. The riverbank standoff with Mexico police followed a more violent confrontation Sunday when the migrants used sticks and rocks against officers. One migrant was killed Sunday night by a head wound, but the cause was unclear.

The first group passed through the spot via the river — wading or on rafts — and was advancing through southern Mexico. That group appeared to begin as a collection of about 160 who decided to band together in Honduras for protection against the gangs who prey on migrants traveling alone and snowballed as the group moved north. They are mostly from Honduras, where it started, as well as El Salvador and Guatemala.

Another, smaller caravan earlier this year dwindled greatly as it passed through Mexico, with only about 200 making it to the California border.

Migrants are entitled under both U.S. and international law to apply for asylum. But there already is a bottleneck of would-be asylum seekers waiting at some U.S. border crossings to make their claims, some waiting as long as five weeks.

McAleenan said the aim of the operation was to deter migrants from crossing illegally, but he conceded his officers were overwhelmed by a surge of asylum seekers at border crossings. He also said Mexico was prepared to offer asylum to members of the caravan.

“If you’re already seeking asylum, you’ve been given a generous offer,” he said of Mexico. “We want to work with Mexico to manage that flow.”

The White House is also weighing additional border security measures, including blocking those traveling in the caravan from seeking legal asylum and preventing them from entering the U.S.

The military operation drew quick criticism.

“Sending active military forces to our southern border is not only a huge waste of taxpayer money, but an unnecessary course of action that will further terrorize and militarize our border communities,” said Shaw Drake of the American Civil Liberties Union’s border rights center at El Paso, Texas.

Military personnel are legally prohibited from engaging in immigration enforcement. The troops will include military police, combat engineers and others helping on the border.

The escalating rhetoric over the migrants and expected deployments come as the president has been trying to turn the caravans into a key election issue just days before elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress.

“This will be the election of the caravans, the Kavanaughs, law and order, tax cuts, and you know what else? It’s going to be the election of common sense,” Trump said at a rally in Illinois on Saturday night.

On Monday, he tweeted without providing evidence, “Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border.”

“Please go back,” he urged them, “you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”

It’s possible there are criminals mixed in, but Trump has not substantiated his claim that members of the MS-13 gang, in particular, are among them.

The troops are expected to perform a wide variety of functions such as transporting supplies for the Border Patrol, but not engage directly with migrants seeking to cross the border, officials said. One U.S. official said the troops will be sent initially to staging bases in California, Texas and Arizona while the CBP works out precisely where it wants the troops positioned. U.S. Transportation Command posted a video on its Facebook page Monday of a C-17 transport plane that it said was delivering Army equipment to the Southwest border in support of the operation.

The U.S. military has already begun delivering jersey barriers to the southern border in conjunction with the deployment plans.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and immigration (all times local):

The Defense Department says it’s sending 5,200 active duty troops to “harden” the southern border against a migrant caravan making its way through Mexico.

The Kansas National Guard is currently working with National Guard Bureau to identify soldiers and airmen to support the on-going mission requirements to the Southwest Border states.  

“We appreciate the men and women of our Kansas National Guard for the service they give to our state and nation when called upon,” said Gov. Jeff Colyer. “This assignment will be an important one for those who are selected, and we send them on this mission with the full support of our state.”

Kansas Guardsmen will be sent to Arizona to work with the Arizona National Guard currently supporting Customs Border Patrol Southwest Border Operations.  The exact duties that Kansas Guardsmen will be assigned to perform are not known at this time. 

Guardsmen who deploy in support of the SWB could potentially be gone from 60 days up to one year.  Currently, Kansas has one soldier supporting the New Mexico National Guard with its SWB operations.

 

WATCH LIVE: @DeptofDefense and @DHSGov brief reporters on #DOD Deployment to Southwest border. https://t.co/oy8ecdi6yU

— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) October 29, 2018

Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy tells reporters that 800 soldiers were en route on Monday and that the remainder of the troops would be at the southwest border by the end of the week.

That’s in addition to the more than 2,000 members of the National Guard already providing assistance at the border now. Officials say the troops will provide “mission enhancing capabilities” and will be armed.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump has been trying to focus on the caravan just a week before the midterm elections.

The migrant caravan has been moving slowly north from Central America and its numbers have been dwindling.

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12:23 p.m.

Three U.S. officials say the number of military troops deployed to the southern border in support of the Customs and Border Patrol could be in the thousands.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a troop plan that was not yet completed and had not yet been approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

The Wall Street Journal reported the planned deployment was likely to be much higher than officials had disclosed late last week when preliminary figures of 800 to 1,000 were cited. The Journal reported that the Pentagon plans to deploy 5,000 troops, mainly military police and engineers.

The troops are expected to perform a wide variety of functions such as transporting supplies for the Border Patrol, but not engage directly with migrants seeking to cross the border from Mexico, officials said.

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11:29 a.m.

President Donald Trump is escalating his threats against a migrant caravan traveling to the U.S. border, labelling the effort an “invasion” and declaring the “Military is waiting for you.”

Trump tweeted Monday about the caravan of several thousand Central American migrants moving through Mexico, saying no one will be admitted “unless you go through the legal process.”

Trump also said the group includes “Gang Members and some very bad people.” He has made similar claims before without offering evidence.

The president has stepped up his focus on immigration in the days leading up to the midterm elections.

The Pentagon last week approved a request for additional troops at the southern border. The White House is also weighing additional border security measures.

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12:44 a.m.

The U.S. military has already begun delivering jersey barriers to the southern border in conjunction with plans to deploy active duty troops there. That word comes from U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as a caravan of Central Americans slowly heads across Mexico toward the United States.

Mattis told reporters traveling with him Sunday that details of the deployment are still being worked out but he should have them Sunday night. They will include exactly how many forces are needed. It was unclear when the details will be made public.

The additional troops will provide logistical and other support to the Border Patrol, and will bolster the efforts of the approximately 2,000 National Guard forces already there.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A man who says he who was injured by another patient at a state-run mental health center in Kansas City is suing for $10 million.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Daniel Garcia alleges staff at the Center for Behavioral Medicine knew the patient who assaulted him had committed other physical attacks. The lawsuit contends the center’s staff didn’t protect Garcia and other residents.

Garcia was punched on March 22, fracturing several facial bones. The lawsuit recounts three other violent incidents at the center allegedly involving Hughes. Police reports were taken on the three other assaults.

The resident, Nathaniel Hughes, is charged with first-degree assault in the Garcia case.

A Missouri Department of Mental Health spokeswoman said Monday the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – The University of Missouri’s men and women’s swimming and diving coach is on administrative leave while allegations of team management issues are investigated.

The athletic department announced the action involving Greg Rhodenbaugh on Monday but did not provide more information about the allegations.

Athletic director Jim Sterk said in a news release that student-athletes recently made officials aware of serious team management problems in the men’s and women’s programs.

Associate head coach Andrew Grevers will be interim coach during the investigation.

Rhodenbaugh is in his ninth year as coach at Missouri after coming from Arizona. The Tigers’ men and women teams finished eighth- and 11th at the 2016 NCAA Championships, both program highs. The school also had its first individual national champion, Fabian Schwingenschlogl, in 2016.

ALTON, Mo. (AP) – Conservation officials say a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease was found only 25 miles from an elk herd at Peck Ranch in southern Missouri.

Jasmine Batten, wildlife disease coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says the discovery is a concern because it was so close to the ranch, which holds an elk herd reintroduced to the state at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The infected deer was the first dead wild deer that wasn’t shot by hunters that tested positive for the wasting disease, a contagious disease that is always fatal.

The department will follow containment procedures in Oregon County, meaning many deer within two miles of where the infected deer was found will be killed, with landowner consent.

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities have recovered the stolen inflatable colon missing from the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

According to Kansas City Police, after a tip, officers found the giant, inflatable, pilfered intestine in a vacant house in the 7100 block of Virginia. No one in custody yet. Investigation is continuing.

The 10-foot long, 150 pound inflatable was stolen earlier this month from the back of a pickup truck in Brookside. It’s valued at $4,000 and is owned by the Cancer Coalition, which hosts walking and running events under a campaign called “Get Your Rear In Gear.”

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — There is now a $1,000 award being offered for anyone who comes forward with information that leads to the return of the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s giant inflatable colon.

The American Society of Gastroenterology donated the reward money in hopes of returning the stolen colon.

The 10-foot long, 150 pound inflatable was stolen earlier this month from the back of a pickup truck in Brookside. It’s valued at $4,000 and is owned by the Cancer Coalition, which hosts walking and running events under a campaign called “Get Your Rear In Gear.”

The Cancer Coalition ships the inflatable colon across the country to help see in a unique way the progression of colon cancer.