The News Not Noise Letter: Closing the Border
Biden's new border policy is angering the right and the left, but what does it really change? Plus: Hunter Biden’s trial gets personal, and the Senate fails to protect access to contraception.
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Hi. You might’ve noticed this newsletter is coming to you a day earlier than usual. As we mentioned Monday, I’m traveling abroad and Thalia, a trusted member of Team NNN, has been driving the news coverage. Due to an unforeseen circumstance Thalia has to be out Friday, so we are sending the newsletter early. Today we bring you headlines and a closer look at President Biden’s new executive action on immigration. But first, here are your headlines:
Here are your headlines:
Contraceptive Access: Senate Democrats introduced a bill to federally protect the right to contraceptive access, but it stalled as all but two Senate Republicans voted to block the measure. It needed 60 votes to beat the filibuster; the final tally was 51-39. The GOP says the legislation is unnecessary because birth control access is not under threat. This is not true – some states have begun taking steps to limit access to emergency contraception (i.e., the “morning-after” pill), as well as IUDs and other long-acting reversible contraception methods. And other states have begun cracking down on other forms of reproductive healthcare including IVF and the abortion pill.
Hunter Biden Trial: Hunter Biden’s first federal criminal trial began this week. We explained the case in more detail here, but the gist is that Biden stands accused of illegally lying about being an “unlawful user” of illicit drugs when he purchased a gun in 2018. Jury selection took just one day, and on Tuesday the prosecution began making its case – in essence, all they have to prove is that Biden was an active drug user when he made the purchase. The prosecution called an FBI agent who investigated the case, the gun vendor who made the sale to Biden, and Biden’s ex-wife and ex-girlfriends including Hallie Biden, Beau Biden’s widow who was briefly involved with Hunter Biden after Beau’s death. Much of the trial has rehashed painful, personal – and already publicly available – details of Hunter Biden’s addiction and the Biden family’s tumultuous grieving process after Beau Biden’s death.
D-Day Anniversary: President Biden is in Normandy, France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when US and Allied forces stormed the beaches in the battle that began to turn the tide of WWII. Biden met with French President Emmanuel Macron and is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also personally greeted and thanked WWII veterans and gave an address to mark the occasion. Biden emphasized the importance of defending democracy, drawing a line from the Allied victory in WWII and the modern NATO alliance. He also warned that the US and European allies “will not bow down” to Putin, who he called a “tyrant intent on domination.”
Indian Election: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi won his third term in office — but despite his predictions of a landslide victory, his party did not win a majority of votes. It actually lost more than 50 seats in India’s parliament. For the first time since coming to power in 2014, Modi now must rely on a coalition of parties to govern, assuaging some concerns of antidemocratic shifts in India. Throughout his decade as PM, Modi has championed popular welfare programs and polarizing Hindu nationalist policies. For better or for worse, he’s relied on his party’s majority to swiftly enact his legislative agenda. Without that majority, he may be forced to moderate certain positions to come to compromise deals.
Bird Flu Death: A Mexican man died from the first confirmed human case of H5N2 bird flu. This is different from the H5N1 strain circulating in the US in birds and cattle. So far the limited number of people infected with H5N1 have had mild symptoms and have recovered, and there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission in either H5N1 or H5N2 bird flu.
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Biden’s Border Policy:
Facing a close election and polls that show concerns over immigration as a top issue for voters, President Biden this week announced a sweeping executive order on immigration. It will significantly limit asylum applications for migrants entering the US via the southern border. Under the new rule, migrants who enter the US at legal ports of entry will still be permitted to seek asylum. But when more than 2,500 people enter illegally/day, those caught crossing the southern border without authorization will not be eligible to apply for asylum. Instead they’ll face immediate deportation and possibly additional consequences.
