A group of senators is preparing to introduce a bill that would extend the U.S. government's ability to expel migrants without court hearings beyond the expiration of a public health order. Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego has expressed concern that border communities in his state are not prepared to handle the surge of migrants when Covid restrictions end. The proposed bill would allow the U.S. government to continue the soon-to-be terminated Title 42 border expulsion policy for two years without a public health justification.
Posts tagged as “Covid”
The Biden administration is responding to the potential influx of migrants by deploying 1,500 active-duty troops to the US-Mexico border for 90 days. The troops will provide operational support to US immigration authorities, but will not use force or make arrests. Rep. Tony Gonzales has warned that the situation is "getting worse" and has called on the Biden administration to address the root causes of migration.
The Biden administration is preparing for a record surge in migration across the southern border when Covid restrictions end in May. To address this, the administration is expected to announce the establishment of immigration processing centers in Latin America on Thursday. The administration is also working to increase the number of beds available in detention centers and shelters, as well as provide additional resources to process asylum claims, though it is unclear how effective the new processing centers will be.
The FDA has authorized a second dose of the updated Covid booster for older adults and people with weakened immune systems, which is designed to protect against the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron. This new bivalent formula will replace the multi-dose primary series for those who have not yet been vaccinated, and can be administered as early as four months after the first shot. It is hoped that this will help to reduce the spread of the virus and protect those who are most vulnerable.
President Joe Biden is set to embark on a four-day trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The trip is part homecoming, part statecraft and part politics, as Biden has a deeply felt personal history with the country. He will deliver remarks at Ulster University to highlight the progress since the signing of the peace agreement in 1998 and trace his family history in the country. Biden's trip is an intersection of his personal history and his view of international relations, and is expected to be a meaningful and memorable journey.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has announced that House Republicans are prepared to pass their own debt ceiling bill if President Joe Biden does not agree to negotiate with them. McCarthy proposed a borrowing limit extension with provisions to cut and cap discretionary spending, recapture unspent Covid relief funds, and introduce new work requirements for federal benefits. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) jokingly asked what McCarthy would bring to the White House for lunch, to which he replied he would bring lunch.
Northwestern Medicine in Chicago has announced a breakthrough treatment for late-stage lung cancer, with two patients with stage IV lung cancer who had been told they had weeks or months to live now breathing freely after receiving double lung transplants. The team was able to use knowledge learned during the Covid pandemic to successfully perform the double lung transplantations, and the two patients are now recovering and expected to make a full recovery. This novel treatment could be a potential game-changer for people with late-stage lung cancer.
The US is planning to relax Covid-19 testing restrictions for travelers from China on Friday, following a surge in cases and lack of transparency from Chinese officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously announced a requirement for travelers to prove they had tested negative for the virus before flying to the US from China, Hong Kong, and Macau. This decision is part of an effort to protect US citizens from the spread of the virus, though it is unclear if the US will continue to require negative tests in the future.