The Full Belmonte, 2/22/2024
Immigrants wait next to razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, from Mexico. (John Moore/Getty Images South America/Getty Images)
Immigration
“The White House is considering executive action that would allow President Joe Biden to effectively close the US-Mexico border to migrants crossing illegally. It is a maneuver reminiscent of former President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown and is sure to invite fierce backlash among progressives. The White House has not commented on the matter, and it remains unclear how the proclamation, if executed, would be different from what was enacted during the Trump administration. In January, the US Border Patrol reported more than 124,000 encounters along the southern border. The growing number of migrants has fueled tensions between federal and state officials who say they are overwhelmed by already-stretched resources.” [CNN]
The Biden administration is canceling $1.2 billion in student loans.
“Whose loans? Nearly 153,000 borrowers who enrolled in the president’s repayment plan. Those who borrowed less than $12,000 can have their debt wiped clean after 10 years of payments.
Zooming out: The administration has now approved almost $138 billion in loan forgiveness since the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s original $400 billion plan last year.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Moon mission
“An unmanned spacecraft is set to land on the moon today in the first US lunar landing attempt since the Apollo era. The mission, developed by NASA and Houston-based Intuitive Machines, will aim to land the Odysseus spacecraft, nicknamed "Odie," near the lunar south pole at 5:30 p.m. ET. If successful, it would mark the first US vehicle on the moon in more than 50 years. If it fails, Odie would become the third lunar lander to meet its demise on the lunar surface in less than a year. Only three other countries — China, India and Japan — have reached the moon with robotic vehicles in the 21st century. Coverage of the historic event will stream live starting around 4 p.m. ET on the private company's website, or you can follow CNN for the latest updates.” [CNN]
At least two Alabama fertility clinics have paused IVF services.
Containers holding frozen embryos are stored at a fertility clinic in Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
“Why? The state’s Supreme Court ruled last week that embryos are legally equivalent to children. It sparked confusion over the treatment, in which eggs are fertilized outside the body.
What now? Many in Alabama fear IVF will be inaccessible or severely limited due to new financial and physical burdens for patients and potential criminal liability for providers.
Yesterday: Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she agreed with the ruling.”
Read this story at Washington Post
February 22, 2024
Good morning. Today, my colleague Pam Belluck explains an aggressive and creative new strategy that some blue states are using to protect abortion access in red states. — David Leonhardt
By Pam Belluck
Health and Science Writer, Science
Abortion pills prepared to be sent to patients in states where abortion is illegal. Sophie Park for The New York Times
Abortion from afar
“Doctors in a handful of blue states have found a way to provide abortions to women in red states where it is banned or restricted. They are doing it with a new tool: laws that protect them from prosecutors elsewhere.
These telemedicine shield laws block officials in red states who might prosecute or sue the abortion providers in Massachusetts, New York, California, Vermont, Colorado and Washington State. Those states won’t extradite doctors. They won’t turn over records. They won’t aid in any investigation. It’s a sharp break from the usual pattern of interstate cooperation, as I report in a news story today.
I’ve been covering abortion for over a decade. Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and triggered a wave of bans in conservative states, abortion rights advocates have worked to preserve access. They’ve used mobile clinics across the border from red states — and funds that cover the cost of travel to places where abortion is legal. In today’s newsletter, I’ll talk about one of the newest approaches.
A new tool
The providers started mailing abortion pills under the shield laws just last summer. But their reach has surprised even some advocates. They’ve already prescribed and mailed abortion pills to tens of thousands of women in Texas, Idaho and other places that banned abortion after the high court’s 2022 decision. Patients find them online and fill out forms about their medical history. Providers then evaluate whether patients are eligible. They can be up to 12 weeks’ pregnant and must have no disqualifying medical issues like an ectopic pregnancy or a blood-clotting disorder.
Being able to receive abortion medication at their homes by mail saves patients the time, money and difficulty of traveling to a state where abortion is legal. It also avoids the weekslong wait for pills ordered from overseas. Shield law services charge $150 or $250, but they allow poorer patients to pay less or even nothing.
Abortion opponents in conservative states are outraged. The shield laws are ‘really trying to completely sabotage the governing efforts of their neighboring states,’ said John Seago, the president of Texas Right to Life. ‘It can’t stand, and we can’t be content with this new development.’
The practice has not yet been challenged in court, but observers think it’s only a matter of time. Law enforcement officials in anti-abortion states may be waiting for a case they think will be persuasive. A senior government official in a conservative state told me about one possible strategy: State officials could first file charges or a complaint against a provider in a blue state. Then, when that state refused to cooperate, a red state could sue the shield-law state itself, claiming that the Constitution’s full faith and credit clause prevents one state from interfering with another’s laws.
States with abortion bans will also watch a lawsuit the Supreme Court will hear next month, in which opponents of abortion have sued the Food and Drug Administration to try to bar abortion pills. (My colleague Emily Bazelon has written for The Morning about how much of the abortion struggle now revolves around pills.) If the justices uphold an appeals court ruling, patients might need in-person doctor visits to obtain the medications.
Doctors tread cautiously
Regardless of the court’s decision in that case, some shield-law providers say they intend to find a way to continue.
Still, they are taking precautions. Most shield-law providers have decided not to travel to states with abortion bans, and some have established trusts to protect their assets from civil suits. Some identify themselves publicly, but others fly under the radar.
I visited one Massachusetts operation in a tiny office behind an unmarked door and watched as Carol, a reproductive health consultant who asked to be identified by her middle name, carefully packaged the two abortion medications, mifepristone and misoprostol. She put them into plain envelopes lined with bubble wrapping so they don’t rattle when they are mailed to patients. I accompanied her to the post office, where she mailed dozens of envelopes across the country.
‘We’re a free country,’ said Lauren Jacobson, a nurse practitioner at the Massachusetts clinic who sometimes writes 50 prescriptions a day. ‘So let’s put that to test. Here we are and we’re not going to be intimidated, and we have our states backing us.’” [New York Times]
The U.S. Supreme Court. Kent Nishimura for The New York Times
“The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seems poised to block a Biden administration plan to reduce air pollution. It would be another blow to the E.P.A.’s power.” [New York Times]
Russia
“Governments around the world continue to react to Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny's death, with the UK sanctioning six officials in charge of the prison where he died. Canada has also joined a growing list of nations that have summoned the Russian ambassador to their countries as global leaders demand a thorough investigation into Navalny's untimely passing. President Vladimir Putin's former speechwriter has said that discontent toward the leader in Russian society is on the rise amid ruthless fighting in Ukraine and after hundreds were detained for attending Navalny vigils. Some of the men who were arrested at memorial events were handed military draft summonses, according to a human rights monitoring group.” [CNN]
James Biden denies Joe Biden was involved in his business dealings
“James Biden, President Joe Biden’s brother, sat down with House investigators for a closed-door interview on Wednesday as Republicans continue their monthslong impeachment investigation into the president. GOP lawmakers allege Joe Biden financially benefited from his family’s foreign business dealings, but they have yet to produce evidence directly implicating him. James Biden, in his prepared opening statement obtained by USA TODAY, vehemently denied allegations Joe Biden was directly involved with his business ventures. The president's brother said he ‘has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities. None.’” [USA Today]
James Biden, the brother of President Joe Biden, walks back into a private interview with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
Andrew Harnik, AP
Trump's win with teamsters
Former President Trump leaves a meeting with members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in D.C. last month. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP
“The Teamsters Union made its first major donation to the RNC in two decades after a meeting with former President Trump last month, The Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: The $45,000 donation isn't an endorsement. But it's a powerful statement from a union that's supported every Democratic presidential nominee since Al Gore.
The union's PAC sent $30,000 to the DNC.” [Axios]
Mapped: Prison population rising
Data: Bureau of Justice Statistics. Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios
“The U.S. prison population rose 2.1% in 2022 — the first increase in almost a decade, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report from Justice Department data.
Why it matters: Despite years of declines, the U.S. prison population remains extremely high compared to the era before the "war on drugs" and "tough on crime" politics.
By the numbers: 1.23 million Americans were in state or federal prison in 2022, according to the DOJ.
That's up from 1.21 million in 2021, but down from 1.57 million in 2012.
Zoom in: Incarcerated populations grew the most in Mississippi (+14.3%), Montana (+8.8%) and Colorado (+8.2%) between 2021 and 2022.
Virginia (-10.5%), Oregon (-5.2%) and California (-3.8%) shrank the most.” [Axios]
Strikes
“There were 33 major strikes in the US last year, or a jump of 43%, according to new data from the Labor Department. It was the biggest number of large work stoppages in America in more than 20 years, with around 462,000 workers who were on strike at some point in 2023. There were also more than 16 million days of work lost when the number of strikers and the length of the strikes are taken into account. The greatest number of lost days of work was because of the strike by SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors and was on strike for about four months. Industry analysts anticipate several possible work stoppages could make headlines this year, including thousands of union members at breweries, Hollywood studios and airlines.” [CNN]
Yale to Require Standardized Test Scores for Admissions
Officials said test-optional policies might have harmed students from lower-income families.
“Yale University will require standardized test scores for admission for students applying to enter in the fall of 2025, becoming the second Ivy League university to abandon test-optional policies that had been widely embraced during the Covid pandemic.
Yale officials said in an announcement on Thursday that the shift to test-optional policies might have unwittingly harmed students from lower-income families whose test scores could have helped their chances.
While it will require standardized tests, Yale said its policy would be ‘test flexible,’ permitting students to submit scores from subject-based Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests in lieu of SAT or ACT scores.
Yale’s decision, which will not affect students who applied during the current admissions cycle, followed a similar decision in February from Dartmouth College. Dartmouth, in Hanover, N.H., said an analysis had found that hundreds of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who had solid scores — in the 1,400 range on the SAT — had declined to submit them, fearing that they fell too far below the perfect 1,600. In 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it had reinstated its testing requirement.
These institutions remain in the minority. Many decided to keep their test optional policies in place as the pandemic waned.
The number of students taking the SAT dropped to 1.7 million in 2022, a decline from 2.2 million in 2020.
More than 80 percent of four-year colleges — or at least 1,825 of the nation’s bachelor-degree-granting institutions — will not require SAT or ACT scores this fall, according to the organization Fair Test, which has fought against standardized testing.
The anti-testing movement has long said that standardized tests help fuel inequality, because many students from affluent families use tutors and coaches to bolster their scores.
After the Supreme Court’s decision last year banning race-conscious admissions, many experts predicted that test-optional policies would become even more widespread.
But some recent research has questioned whether test-optional policies may actually hurt the very students they were meant to help.
In January, Opportunity Insights, a group of economists based at Harvard, published a study that found that test scores could help identify lower-income students and students from underrepresented populations who would thrive in college. High scores from less-privileged students can signal high potential.
Yale, in New Haven, Conn., said that test scores were particularly valuable in evaluating students who attend high schools with fewer academic resources or college preparatory courses.
Jeremiah Quinlan, the dean of undergraduate admissions at Yale, said in a written statement released by the university that Yale had determined that test scores, while imperfect, were predictive of academic success in college.
‘Simply put,’ he said, ‘students with higher scores have been more likely to have higher Yale G.P.A.s, and test scores are the single greatest predictor of a student’s performance in Yale courses in every model we have constructed.’…. Read more at New York Times
Many questions remain unanswered in death of Oklahoma teen
“The news of the death of high school sophomore Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teen, has generated widespread attention, in part because of claims that school employees failed to immediately act after a fight in a school bathroom. Authorities have disclosed some information in an attempt to dispel rumors circulating online, but school district officials had been tight-lipped about what happened. Police said they plan to spend the next several days interviewing students and teachers, then turn over their findings to the Tulsa County district attorney’s office. Condolences for the family have poured in from state officials, LGBTQ+ community advocates and others.
•A transgender woman was killed in South Carolina. Here's why this hate crime case is historic.
•A Houston church shooting revives claims on transgender shooters. Evidence shows they're false.” [USA Today]
“The Boeing executive at the head of the company's troubled Max 737 program has left the company as part of a broader leadership change Boeing announced yesterday. Ed Clark oversaw Boeing's company in Renton, Wash., where the Alaska Airlines plane whose door plug blew off midflight was assembled. His departure was announced yesterday in a company memo, along with Elizabeth Lund's role in the newly created position of senior vice president of quality.” [NPR]
China ends panda exodus
Giant panda Xiao Qi Ji plays in his former enclosure at the National Zoo last year. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP
“China is planning to send a new pair of giant pandas to the U.S. as soon as the end of this summer.
Why it matters: Nearly all the iconic bears on loan to U.S. zoos were repatriated to China last year as relations soured between the two nations.
If all permits and other requirements are approved, two bears — a male and a female — are expected to be sent to San Diego on loan, San Diego Zoo officials told AP.
The San Diego Zoo last hosted pandas in 2019.
Between the lines: Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with President Biden last year that Beijing was ‘ready to continue our cooperation ... on panda conservation.’
Just four pandas remain in the U.S., all at the zoo in Atlanta. That zoo's loan agreement expires later this year.
Pandas returned to China from zoos in D.C. and Memphis last year.” [Axios]
Protests on Hold
Farmers holding chains shout slogans during a protest demanding minimum support prices for all crops at a toll plaza on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on Feb. 20.Narinder Nanu/AFP via Getty Images
“Thousands of farmers in India paused their march toward Delhi on Wednesday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration proposed resuming talks. ‘It is important for us to maintain peace,’ Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Modi will seek his third term in general elections later this year and requires support from India’s large and influential farmers’ bloc for success.
Around 10,000 farmers, along with 1,200 tractors and wagons, had gathered at villages near the Haryana state border to demand higher prices for their produce. Police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters as well as erected barricades, diverted traffic, and shut down two key entry points north of New Delhi to stop their pursuit toward the nation’s capital. At least one demonstrator has been killed in the clashes thus far, according to Punjab’s chief minister, though Haryana police deny the allegation.
The protesters said they will resume their march toward the capital on Friday if their demands for guaranteed crop prices are not met. The farmers’ unions rejected the government’s previous proposal on Monday for a five-year contract that guarantees minimum support prices for farmers who diversify their produce, arguing that additional food grains must be covered under the terms.
Among the farmers’ biggest complaints, they have accused Modi of not keeping promises that his administration made more than three years ago during the country’s last major agricultural protests. In November 2020, thousands of farmers camped outside Delhi’s borders to protest proposed controversial agricultural reforms. They feared that the new laws would reduce their incomes by ending a system that guaranteed minimum prices for certain essential crops. The demonstrators demanded that Modi introduce legislation defining set prices as their legal right so as not to be at the mercy of the markets. However, Modi rushed the reform package through parliament, arguing that the reforms were necessary to modernize India’s agricultural sector.
Modi’s actions were just one of many ‘bold decisions with little care for democratic decision-making,’ FP’s Ravi Agrawal wrote at the time. Dozens of farmers died during the yearlong protests, many from suicide, cold weather, or COVID-19. Eventually, Modi agreed to repeal the reform package in November 2021—just in time for state elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was looking to shore up support. This year, the farmers’ unions are hoping that Modi’s electoral needs will once again push the administration to meet their demands.” [Foreign Policy]
“Israel’s ongoing war. An Israeli airstrike killed at least two people in a residential building in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday. The Israeli military did not comment on the attack, but a senior Western diplomat told the New York Times that the operation attempted to target Iranians near a site used by Tehran’s military. The Israel Defense Forces have conducted hundreds of past strikes on Iranian-linked targets and Iranian proxy groups in Syria.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Israel ordered two neighborhoods in Gaza City to evacuate, and the World Food Program (WFP) halted deliveries to the north after aid convoys were overwhelmed with ‘crowds of hungry people,’ forcing workers to fend off civilians trying to climb the trucks. The agency ‘faced complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order,’ the WFP said. One in 6 Palestinian children under age 2 in the north are acutely malnourished, according to a new UNICEF study.” [Foreign Policy]
“Third-party consequences. The European Union passed a new sanctions package on Wednesday targeting Chinese and Indian companies that support Russia’s war efforts. Nearly 200 individuals and entities fall under the new restrictions, and Brussels is considering adding another round of sanctions following the recent death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny at a Russian penal colony last week. Although this is the EU’s 13th set of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, it is the first time that the bloc has targeted Chinese and Indian corporations for their third-party involvement.
Russia’s security services also faced increased global scrutiny on Tuesday after authorities arrested a Los Angeles resident with dual Russian-U.S. citizenship for state treason. The 33-year-old woman was accused of sending just over $50 to a U.S.-based nonprofit that sends aid to Ukraine. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.” [Foreign Policy]
“Congo Islamist violence. Members of the extremist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed at least 24 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this week, local officials and civil society activists announced on Tuesday. The rebel group, which has ties to the Islamic State, is just one of around 120 militant organizations fighting for power in the region. On Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council sanctioned the leaders of six such armed groups, including two people associated with the ADF.
Nearly 7 million civilians have been displaced within Congo in the past 30 years as militant groups vie for land and resources. The March 23 Movement is among the most notorious rebel groups there, with the Rwandan government allegedly supporting the organization to secure greater mineral access for itself. Kigali denies any involvement in the conflict.” [Foreign Policy]
“Locals of Cape Town stepped outside to an ‘unimaginable’ and ‘overwhelming’ stench this week after a ship transporting 19,000 live cattle docked at the South African port on Sunday. The smell of feces and ammonia blanketed the city, sparking outcry over the poor treatment of animals that are transported across the ocean. The ship departed for Iraq on Wednesday, to the great relief of Cape Town’s residents.” [Foreign Policy]
“Lives Lived: Charles Stendig, an importer, traveled to factories throughout Europe, sometimes behind the Iron Curtain, to introduce avant-garde and modern furniture to American living rooms. He died at 99.” [New York Times]