Italy sends another 8 migrants to Albania under processing centers deal

SHENGJIN, Albania (AP) — An Italian navy ship docked Friday at the Albanian port of Shengjin with eight migrants who will be processed there after they were intercepted in international waters, a month after another group was turned away for failing the vetting process.

It is only the second transfer of migrants since two migrant processing centers started operating in October under a deal sealed between Italy and Albania.

The agreement allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania, and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or be sent back to their countries.

Italy has agreed to welcome those migrants who are granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.

The same Italian naval ship used on Friday transferred the first 16 migrants to Albania from Bangladesh and Egypt on Oct. 16. Four were taken to Italy the same day because they were minors or had health issues. Twelve others were brought back to Italy three days later, following a ruling by Rome judges who rejected their detention because their countries of origin weren't safe enough for them to be sent back.

The naval ship Libra, which can carry 200 people besides crew, left Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa on Wednesday with eight men on board, according to the Italian media. Italian Interior Ministry spokesperson Francesco Kamel had confirmed the Libra was heading to Albania, but declined to give out any further information until the operation was complete. He didn't say when it would arrive, nor how many people were on board.

Eight migrants in black-and-purple sportswear were seen walking out of the ship, accompanied by Italian Carabinieri, police and other officials at the reception center. After being screened there, they will be taken to the Gjader center, about 22 kilometers (14 miles) to the east.

The Italian media reported that out of 1,200 migrant arrivals on Lampedusa over the past two days, just eight male adults traveling without families met Albania's screening criteria, including that they come from countries deemed “safe” for repatriation.

There is no clarification from the Italian Interior Ministry on the nationality of the migrants. Nongovernmental organizations refer to them as coming from Bangladesh and Egypt.

The number of people reaching Italy along the central Mediterranean migration route — mainly from Bangladesh, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt — has fallen by 60% in 2024 compared to 2023. As of Nov. 7, according to the Italian Interior Ministry, 57,767 migrants have arrived by sea in 2024.

A court ruling out of Rome had shortened the list of countries considered “safe” by law, meaning that Rome can repatriate migrants from those countries who didn’t win asylum using a fast-track procedure. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni slammed the Rome court ruling, and said that deeming countries such as Bangladesh and Egypt unsafe means that virtually all migrants would be barred from the Albania program, making it unworkable.

On Oct. 21, Italy’s far-right government approved a new decree aimed at overcoming those judicial hurdles that risked derailing the contentious five-year migration deal with Albania, signed in 2023 by Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama.

The agreement to outsource the housing of asylum-seekers to a non-European Union member country, defended by Meloni as a new model to handle illegal migration, has been hailed by some countries which like Italy are experiencing a high level of migrant arrivals.

“There’s still an extraordinary interest and some positive attention (on the Albanian migration deal) and there was also a bit of curiosity on this debate over safe countries,” Meloni on Friday told reporters in Budapest during the European Political Community summit.

“Reading some court rulings, it looks that there are no safe countries at all ... that would compromise any possibility of managing or blocking mass illegal immigration,” Meloni said.

Visiting Albania in October, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen refused to give her opinion of the agreement, saying only that it was being closely monitored.

Human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations that are active in the Mediterranean have slammed the agreement as a dangerous precedent that conflicts with international laws.

Llazar Semini reported from Tirana. Colleen Barry in Milan, and Giada Zampano and Patricia Thomas in Rome, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Follow Llazar Semini at: https://x.com/lsemini

An aerial view of a migrant reception facility at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, as a second group of eight migrants were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

An aerial view of a migrant reception facility at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, before a second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters is processed to the facility despite the failure with the first group in October. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Migrants walk at the port of Shengjin, next to security forces, after they disembark from an Italian Navy ship northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, while a second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters is processed in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Migrants disembark from the Italian navy ship Libra at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, as a second group of eight migrants were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Migrants disembark from the Italian navy ship Libra at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, as a second group of eight migrants were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Migrants walk at the port of Shengjin, next to security forces after they disembark from an Italian Navy ship northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, while a second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters is processed in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Italian navy ship Libra arrives at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, with the second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Italian navy ship Libra approaches the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, with the second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Italian navy ship Libra approaches the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, with the second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Italian navy ship Libra, left, approaches the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, with the second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Italian navy ship Libra arrives at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, with the second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Italian navy ship Libra approaches the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, with the second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October.(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's DOGE time at the U.S. Capitol.

Billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy arrived Tuesday on Capitol Hill meeting with legislators behind closed doors about President-elect Donald Trump's plans to “dismantle” the federal government.

Trump tapped the two business titans to head his Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with firing federal workers, cutting government programs and slashing federal regulations — all part of what he calls his "Save America" agenda for a second term in the White House.

“We're going to see a lot of change around here in Washington,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, as Musk, with a small child on his shoulders, breezed by and into the private meeting.

Washington has seen this before, with ambitious efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government that historically have run into resistance when the public is confronted with cuts to trusted programs that millions of Americans depend on for jobs, health care, military security and everyday needs.

But this time Trump is staffing his administration with battle-tested architects of sweeping proposals, some outlined in Project 2025, to severely reduce and reshape the government. Musk and Ramaswamy said they plan to work alongside the White House's Office of Management and Budget, headed by Trump's nominee Russ Vought, a mastermind of past cuts.

“DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. “We are prepared for the onslaught.”

The duo, invited for what Johnson called a “brainstorming” session as they begin this “journey” together, face a first test in private with House and Senate lawmakers — some eager to hear what they have in mind.

“I am fired up to go out and do something,” said Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., who joined with Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in launching what they are calling the DOGE caucus in the House, with more than 50 Republicans and two Democratic members.

Bean said the DOGE caucus will unveil an email tip line where people can report wasteful spending. He also envisions a scoreboard of sorts that people can view on a website showing “how many positions we’ve cut, agencies we’ve cut, what the actual number is.”

In the Senate, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have launched a similar caucus.

“I think that’ll be a great start to the whole process,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who will chair a House Oversight subcommittee in the new year as part of “building the bridge between Congress and DOGE.”

While neither Musk nor Ramaswamy have much public service experience, they bring track records in private business — Musk's operations have vast government contracts — and enthusiasm for Trump's agenda, having campaigned alongside him in the final stretch of the election.

The world's richest man, Musk poured millions into a get-out-the-vote effort to help the former president return to the White House. He is known politically for having transformed the popular social media site formerly known as Twitter into X, a platform embraced by Trump's MAGA enthusiasts.

Despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is neither a department nor part of the government, which frees Musk and Ramaswamy from having to go through the typical ethics and background checks required for federal employment. They said they will not be paid for their work.

One good-government group has said that DOGE, as a presidential advisory panel, should be expected to adhere to traditional practices of transparency, equal representation and public input — as happened with similar advisory entities from the Reagan to the Obama administrations.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act “is designed expressly for situations like this," wrote Lisa Gilbert and Robert Weissman, the co-chairs of Public Citizen in a letter to the Trump transition team.

"If the government is going to turn to unelected and politically unaccountable persons to make recommendations as grand as $2 trillion in budget cuts, it must ensure those recommendations come from a balanced and transparent process not rigged to benefit insiders.”

The nation's $6 trillion federal budget routinely runs a deficit, which this year ran $1.8 trillion, a historic high, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It has not been balanced since the Clinton administration more than two decades ago.

Republicans generally blame what they see as exorbitant spending for the deficit, while Democrats point to tax cuts enacted under Republican presidents Trump and George W. Bush as the major driver.

Receipts last year as a percentage of gross domestic product came in just below the average for the past 50 years, while outlays were equal to 23.4% of GDP, compared to the 50-year average of 21.1%

Some of the biggest increases in spending last year occurred with politically popular programs that lawmakers will be reticent to touch. For example, spending on Social Security benefits went up 8%, Medicare outlays increased 9%, spending on defense went up 7% and spending on veterans health care rose 14%, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he would like to see Musk testify before the House Armed Services Committee on the “bloated defense budget.”

“I’d like to see Elon recommend some cuts. Let’s have him testify,” Khanna said.

He said he’s open to hearing proposals on non-defense spending, but was skeptical.

“If they find waste, maybe, but in terms of big numbers, I mean, no one is going to allow for cutting education funding for special needs kids and for low-income schools, or for cutting Social Security and Medicare,” Khanna said. “If they want to do that, they’re going to hand us a landslide in 2026.”

FILE - The Capitol is seen on Nov. 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

FILE - Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign rally, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)