The News Not Noise Letter: News That Doesn’t Suck (And Some That Does)
Crisis at the border as pandemic-era restrictions expire. Plus: birth control may get easier and WGA strikers find unexpected romance.
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A rundown of this week’s big stories:
Border Crisis as Title 42 Ends: Title 42, the policy that turned migrants away from the border during the pandemic, ended Thursday at 11:59 pm. Even before Title 42 ended, there were over 28,000 migrants in US Border Patrol custody. The DHS says they saw an increase in migrants after Title 42 expired, but far from the dramatic overnight influx predicted by many. More migrants are expected to make the trek to the US now and they face extreme conditions crossing the border at unofficially sanctioned points in the desert or via the Rio Grande. Conditions inside US immigration camps are also dire, and on Friday a Honduran teenager died in US custody at a facility for unaccompanied minors near Tampa, Florida; a cause of death has not yet been identified. The White House is instituting new policies: limiting asylum for anyone who crosses the border without first applying online — though applicants are already struggling to make appointments through the Biden administration’s CBP One app. They also want migrants to seek protection in a country they had to travel through before reaching the US border, though that will likely face legal challenges. The State Department is also working to open “about 100 regional processing centers at key locations in the Western Hemisphere” where migrants could apply for resettlement to the US, Canada, or Spain — though the department has currently only confirmed plans for two centers located in Colombia and Guatemala.
New Attention, Old Problems (and Even Older Laws): This is not a new crisis, and millions of migrants and asylum seekers didn’t just magically show up at the border. Its happening because our immigration laws are extremely outdated. They aren't designed to handle the need for migrant workers, the necessity of welcoming asylum seekers, or the numbers of people who want to come here. In 1986, Congress made it illegal to hire or recruit immigrants who do not have legal documentation – but didn’t create a path to legal citizenship or residency. President Bush attempted to overhaul immigration policy in 2007 and Congress got close with compromise reform in 2013, but both failed because of political cowardice: some Republicans worried their die-hard voters would punish them for not sealing the border, and some Democrats feared their die-hard voters would punish them for agreeing to security and limits. So now members accept crisis and dysfunction rather than making tough choices to do the job. (That simplifies the challenges of dealmaking in this Congress – but doing hard things is part of the job). Polling shows only 8% of voters and 14% of GOP voters consider immigration a top voting issue, but 57% of voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing on immigration. So a GOP nominee could easily make immigration a key issue in 2024. The political stunts have already started: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent two more buses of migrants to Washington, D.C. Thursday, including sending migrants to Kamala Harris’s doorstep.
E Jean Carroll Verdict: Former President Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll, and the court ordered him to pay $5 million in damages to Carroll. This was a civil suit, so Trump will not face any jail time. The former president’s legal team officially notified the court that they plan to appeal. In a CNN town hall on Wednesday night, Trump railed against Carroll and the jury, and Carroll’s attorney says she may sue him for defamation again.
A Note on the Town Hall and Covering Trump: I didn’t share video from the CNN town hall on Instagram or in the newsletter because that footage is full of familiar attacks, disinformation, misogyny, etc. The crowd cheered Trump and laughed at sexual assault. You don’t need me to understand what happened. That said, I won’t ignore Trump or his policies – I’m simply making careful choices about how to cover him. Trump said that if he becomes president he’d like to pardon many of the Jan 6 protesters (not news, he’s been saying this on the stump for a while); he refused to say that he wants Ukraine to defeat Russia; he wouldn’t rule out an abortion ban; expressed support for a defaulting on the debt and for separating families at the border. Meantime, CNN is under fire for giving Trump more than an hour of airtime with a live town hall format and an audience that lacked Trump critics.
Debt Ceiling: What’s Next? The Congressional Budget Office issued a new warning today that the US could hit default within the first two weeks of June if the debt ceiling is not raised. Meanwhile, a critical meeting between President Biden and Congressional leaders from both parties was postponed until next week because the two sides are still too far apart to make a negotiation among leaders worthwhile. But there are some signs of progress: since the leaders met on Tuesday, staff has been meeting daily. And there’s some movement, with the White House potentially willing to cap future spending and claw back unspent COVID funds in exchange for raising the debt limit for two years in a row (to avoid revisiting this fight in the election year). But there’s lots more work to be done. Once/if there is an agreement it still takes time to write the bill and get it through Congress so they need a deal ASAP. Lawmakers are preparing for the possibility they’ll stay in DC over the Memorial Day weekend to vote on a late deal, if needed. If there is no deal, there’s the possibility the President could try to avoid a debt limit catastrophe by invoking the 14th Amendment which contains a clause stating that the “validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned.” This move would likely involve lengthy litigation and could lead to a downgrade anyway. Plus Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said that if Biden invokes the 14th Amendment, Congressional Republicans “will blow crap up,” adding that it would be “open warfare.”
Subway Chokeholder In Court: Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old Marine veteran who killed homeless street artist Jordan Neely, 30, on a New York subway by restraining him in a chokehold for many minutes (we don’t know how long), surrendered to police Friday morning to face a charge of second-degree manslaughter. Neely was a Michael Jackson impersonator who had a history of mental illness since the murder of his mother when he was a teenager in 2007. On May 1, Neely reportedly began “acting erratically” in a subway car as he shouted about his hunger and poverty, reportedly saying he did not care if he died or went to jail. Witnesses to the scene said Neely had not attacked anyone before Penny began to choke him. Footage of Neely’s killing went viral, prompting outrage and discussions of race (Penny is white and Neely was Black), homelessness, mental health, violence, public fear about crime and safety, and policing. Penny was arraigned Friday afternoon and his lawyers said they are “confident” that Penny will be “fully absolved of any wrongdoing.” Bond was set at $100,000.
Here’s some news that doesn’t suck:
Mother’s Day Weekend: Sunday is Mother’s Day, and we want to recognize the contributions of mothers around the country and the world. Motherhood is hard, and mothers face systemic challenges from fertility struggles to insufficient childcare to lower wages and more. We see you, we support you, and we are grateful for all that you do. This Mother’s Day, consider joining with Moms Demand Action for a Mother’s Day of Action involving rallies, phonebanking, and marching to demand a national assault weapons ban. There is also a #PhoneCallsNotFlowers campaign asking folks to call their members of Congress and ask them to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.
Child Poverty Down: On Mother’s Day, we’re also happy to report that the number of American children in poverty declined 28% between 2010 and 2020. Want to know more? Here’s the data from USAFacts. USA Facts is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic organization dedicated to making government data available. They are a News Not Noise content partner.
OTC Birth Control Might Be Coming: An FDA advisory board unanimously supported making an oral contraceptive pill called Opill available over the counter. Opill (generic name norgestrel) is a progestin-only birth control pill that has fewer risks of adverse side-effects than estrogen-progestin combination pills. Progestin-only pills also require users to take each pill within the same time window each day to maintain efficacy, unlike the combination pills which provide a little more leeway. Still, the committee found that Opill is safe, that patients can clearly understand what it is used for, and that they can follow its directions. The FDA still has to make its final decision, but this is a major first step in making contraceptives easier to access.
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