“Experts are split on whether the US is on the brink of another coronavirus surge. One very concerning sign? Throngs of spring breakers flocking to hot spots like Miami Beach, where officials enacted emergency curfews to keep people off the streets. Things got ugly this weekend when officers fired pepper balls into crowds and arrested dozens. In Brazil, hospitals are near collapse and the country reported spiking case numbers over the last week. No Brazilian states have ICU occupancy rates below 70%, and only two have occupancy below 80%. Thankfully, the first batch of coronavirus vaccines sent through the COVAX program arrived in Brazil yesterday. India is also seeing ominous numbers. Infections there have been increasing for almost a week, and the latest numbers mark the biggest case rise since November.” Read more at CNN
“AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday.
AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding no increased risk of rare blood clots identified in Europe.
Although AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been authorized in more than 50 countries, it has not yet been given the green light in the U.S. — and has struggled to gain public trust amid a troubled rollout. The study comprised more than 30,000 volunteers, of whom two-thirds were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine had a 79% efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and was 100% effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalization, though it has not yet published full data. Investigators said the vaccine was effective across all ages, including older people — something previous studies in other countries had failed to establish. Two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were given to people four weeks apart.” Read more at AP
“Pointing to over 1,000 arrests in one of the nation’s top party spots, Miami Beach officials warned Sunday that the unruly spring break crowd gathering by the thousands, fighting in the streets, destroying restaurant property and refusing to wear masks has become a serious threat to public safety.
During a last-minute meeting Sunday, city officials voted to extend a highly unusual 8 p.m. curfew for another week along famed South Beach, with the possibility of extending it well into April if needed, and stressed this isn’t the typical spring break crowd. They said it’s not college students, but adults looking to let loose in one of the few states fully open during the pandemic.
Law enforcement officers from at least four other agencies, along with SWAT teams, were added to help contain the raucous crowds, but it wasn’t enough. After days of partying, including several confrontations with police, Miami Beach officials enacted a highly unorthodox curfew Saturday from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., forcing restaurants to stop outdoor seating entirely during the three-day emergency period, and encouraging local businesses to voluntarily shut down.
More than half of the more than 1,000 arrests were from out of state, said City Manager Raul Aguila, adding many are coming ‘to engage in lawlessness and an ‘anything goes’ party attitude.’ He also noted that the crowds weren’t eating at restaurants or patronizing businesses generating badly needed tourism dollars, but merely congregating by the thousands in the street.
Officers in bullet proof vests dispersed pepper spray balls Saturday night into a defiant, but mostly nonviolent crowd, refusing to submit to the curfew that had only been enacted four hours earlier. Some people responded by jumping on top of cars, twerking and throwing money into the air.
A military style vehicle was seen rolling down the palm-tree lined Ocean Drive as outnumbered Miami Beach police officers struggled to disperse the raucous crowds Saturday. Tourists were urged to stay inside their hotels and pedestrians or vehicles were not allowed to enter the restricted area after 8 p.m.
Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements initially became concerned last Monday when the crowds seemed larger than normal on what is typically a quieter day. A group of vehicles blocked the street ‘and basically had an impromptu street party,’ he said. By Thursday, the crowds were growing, fights were breaking out, setting off dangerous stampedes of people fleeing for safety.
‘We couldn’t go on any longer,’ Clements said during Sunday’s meeting, defending the city’s curfew. ‘I think this was the right decision.’” Read more at AP
Central American migrants are streaming north to the U.S. in the largest numbers in two decades.Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times
The Democrats’ immigration problem
“For most of the past few decades, the Democratic Party had a pretty clear stance on immigration. It favored a mix of enforcement (like border security and the deportation of undocumented immigrants who committed serious crimes) and new pro-immigrant laws (like an increase in legal immigration and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people).
In recent years, however, a growing number of immigration advocates and progressive Democrats have become dissatisfied with this combination. They have pointed out that Democrats’ support for tighter border security has not led to the bipartisan compromise that it was supposed to: Republicans continue to block bills that offer a pathway to citizenship.
In response, these progressives and activists have pushed the party to change. Bill Clinton ran for re-election on a platform that said, ‘We cannot tolerate illegal immigration and we must stop it.’ Barack Obama once said, ‘We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked.’ President Biden has instead emphasized the humane treatment of immigrants, regardless of their legal status.
After taking office, Biden began putting this idea into action. He announced a 100-day halt on deportations (which a judge has blocked). He allowed more migrants — especially children — to enter the country, rather than being detained. And Central American migrants, sensing that the U.S. has become more welcoming, are streaming north in the largest numbers in two decades.
The surge appears to have surprised the Biden administration, as Doris Meissner of the Migration Policy Institute, who ran the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the 1990s, told me. Republicans have pounced, accusing Democrats of favoring an ‘open border.’
Some Democrats are unhappy, too. Biden’s policy ‘incentivizes droves of people to come, and the only way to slow it down is by changing policy at our doorstep,’ Representative Vicente Gonzalez of Texas told The Washington Post. Henry Cuellar, another House Democrat from Texas, said the administration was sending ‘a terrible message.’
It all stems from the fact that the Democratic Party no longer has a clear policy on immigration.
Trump obscured the debate
While Donald Trump was president, he smoothed over the Democrats’ internal tensions because they could unite in opposition to him. Trump used racist language; Democrats abhorred it. Trump separated families and locked children in cages; Democrats promised to end those policies. Trump said he would build a border wall, paid for by Mexico; Democrats mocked his failure.
With Trump out of office, however, the party faces some hard, unresolved questions, including:
Do Democrats still favor the deportation of anyone? Some activists criticized Obama as the ‘deporter in chief.’ But he focused deportations on only two groups: recent arrivals and immigrants who committed serious crimes.
If Democrats prefer a more lenient policy than Obama’s, it isn’t clear whether they support the deportation of anybody — or whether they instead believe that the humane solution is to allow everybody who manages to enter the U.S., legally or illegally, to remain. The party’s 2020 platform doesn’t mention any conditions in which deportation is acceptable. Biden’s attempt to halt deportations for 100 days highlights the party’s new attitude.
Which migrants should be turned away at the border? And what should happen to them next?
There are no easy answers. One option is to prevent people from entering (as is now the case with many adults traveling alone) — but that can create miserable conditions on Mexico’s side of the border. A second is to detain people in the U.S. while their legal cases are being considered — but detaining children is fraught, and many Democrats consider the jailing of any immigrants akin to Trumpism.
A third option is to admit migrants and order them to appear at a future legal hearing (as is happening with many children and families). The adults must often wear ankle bracelets. Still, the process can take years and raises other thorny issues. Many migrants are not good asylum candidates; they are coming to find work or to be near relatives, neither of which necessarily qualifies them for legal entry.
Often, the administration will still be left to decide whom it is willing to deport.
Migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, during a demonstration this month demanding clearer U.S. migration policies.Guillermo Arias/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
What’s the progressive policy?
There are potential policy solutions for all of these questions. The U.S. could increase legal immigration. It could build more detention facilities with humane conditions. It could do more to improve conditions in Latin America and to push Mexico to control its own southern border. The Biden administration is pursuing many of these policies.
But if Biden and his aides appear to be less steady on immigration than many other policy areas, there is a reason for that: They are less steady.
Congress appears unlikely to increase legal immigration levels by much. And polls show that while public opinion favors a pathway to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants, it also favors rigorous border security and the enforcement of existing immigration laws.
I’m not even sure that these views should be described as conservative. Historically, many progressives supported immigration restrictions as a way to keep U.S. wages high. Today, working-class Americans — including many Asian-American, Black and Latino voters — tend to favor more restrictions than progressive Democrats, who are often high-earning professionals, do. This contrast may play a role in Republicans’ recent gains among minority voters.
‘Unfortunately, the way the debate plays out too frequently feels like, ‘Everybody should come and the border should be open,’’ Cecilia Muñoz, a longtime immigrant advocate and former Obama adviser, told me. ‘And that’s the thing that makes Americans anxious.’
One of the advantages to the Democrats’ old approach to immigration was that it was easy to describe: Be firm at the border, be generous to people who have lived in the U.S. for years. The new approach also has an abiding idea: Be more welcoming to people who want to enter the country. But Democrats still have not figured out the limits to that idea, which has created an early problem for the Biden presidency.” Read more at New York Times
“Hundreds gathered in Georgia, Denver, New York City and other places across the US over the weekend to honor the eight lives lost in last week's Atlanta-area spa shootings and to call for an end to hate targeting Asian communities. Though the suspect told police he had a sex addiction (which isn’t a medically recognized diagnosis), many leaders and activists believe it was a hate crime. Six of the eight victims were Asian women. The attack has also raised awareness of anti-Asian hate across the world. Statistics out of London showed a 96% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020 over the prior year.” Read more at CNN
“No. 15 seed Oral Roberts has staked its claim as this year's most surprising NCAA men's basketball tournament Cinderella team after pulling off upsets of No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 7 seed Florida over the weekend. However, the Golden Eagles weren't the only team to produce shocking results. Double-digit seeds Syracuse (No. 11) and Oregon State (No. 12) have raised eyebrows by punching their tickets to the Sweet 16, while No. 1 seed Illinois suffered an unexpected loss to No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago. The second round still may not be out of surprises with upset-minded teams like No. 13 seed Ohio and No. 14 seed Abilene Christian set to take the court Monday, with a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.” Read more at USA Today
“The House Committee on Oversight and Reform will hold a hearing Monday on H.R. 51, the bill that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st state . Advocates for statehood say the District of Columbia pays more in federal taxes than 21 states and more per capita than any state, despite its lack of representation in politics. The bill has over 220 House and 40 Senate co-sponsors in Congress. Nearly 20 former Democratic presidential candidates and leaders have endorsed passing D.C. statehood — including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.” Read more at USA Today
“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced stop in Afghanistan this weekend to meet with President Ashraf Ghani and other officials. The defense secretary's visit comes as the US is deciding whether it will adhere to an agreement the Trump administration reached last year with the Taliban to remove all US forces from the country by May 1. The Biden administration is considering a six-month extension for American troops there as that deadline nears. Austin says he isn’t aware of any final decision by Biden or what the timeline may be. This was Austin’s first visit to the country as the top US defense official.” Read more at CNN
“Detained Canadian Michael Kovrig is on trial in Beijing on espionage charges, and his case has frayed relations among Canada, China and the US. Kovrig is one of two Canadians detained since 2018, following the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, is accused by Chinese authorities of stealing sensitive information and intelligence. Another Canadian, Michael Spavor, faced trial in China last week on related charges. Both Washington and Ottawa have repeatedly called for Kovrig's and Spavor's release. Diplomats from more than two dozen countries were denied access to the Chinese court where Kovrig’s trial is being held. Meanwhile, US and Chinese officials' diplomatic summit in Alaska this weekend did not go well. The sides traded barbs and insults during the opening meeting, signaling an inauspicious start to a new era of relations.” Read more at CNN
“Wealth tax | Biden’s economic team is increasingly confident that evidence of widening inequality in the U.S. will spur public support for the president’s plans to raise taxes on the rich, even though Republican opposition is stiffening, Nancy Cook reports. Boosting income and capital-gains tax rates, levies on companies and an expansion of the estate tax would fund things like infrastructure and assistance for child and home health care.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Investigators probably have enough evidence to charge some Capitol rioters with sedition, a federal prosecutor said.” Read more at New York Times
“Representative Tom Reed, Republican of New York, said he would not run for any political office next year, after a former lobbyist told The Washington Post that Reed touched her inappropriately in 2017.” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: Dr. Nawal el Saadawi was an Egyptian author, physician and advocate for women’s rights in the Arab world who told her own story of female genital mutilation in her memoirs. She died at 89.” Read more at New York Times
“Israelis vote Tuesday in their fourth parliamentary election in just two years. Once again, the race boils down to a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister for the past 12 years, hopes voters will reward him for leading the country’s successful coronavirus vaccine rollout and his diplomatic outreach to the Arab world. His challengers have highlighted his earlier missteps in the coronavirus strategy, his reliance on divisive religious and ultra-nationalist allies and his ongoing corruption trial.” Read more at AP
“Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, on Monday to tout the administration's $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan , according to an administration source. It will be her first visit since crisscrossing Florida last fall during the presidential campaign. Harris' stop in the Sunshine State is part of the administration's ‘Help is Here’ tour to highlight what it says are the benefits of the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed into law on March 11. Last week, both Biden and Harris were on the road to praise the stimulus plan's assistance for American families.” Read more at USA Today
“Railroads strike a $25 billion merger. Canadian Pacific agreed to acquire Kansas City Southern in a transaction that would create the first freight-rail network linking Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. The deal, which faces a lengthy regulatory review, is a long-term wager on an interconnected North American economy.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Turkey’s turmoil. U.S. President Joe Biden joined with Europe to condemn Turkey over its decision to annul its ratification of an international treaty on preventing violence against women. Turkey’s exit from the treaty, known as the Istanbul Convention, brought thousands to Turkey’s streets in protest of the move. Turkey was one of the initial signatories and the first nation to ratify the convention. In a White House statement, Biden called the action ‘deeply dissappointing’ and a ‘disheartening step backward.’ The Turkish presidency released a statement on Sunday saying the convention had been ‘hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality.’
Turkey’s currency was also rocked on Saturday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired central bank governor Naci Agbal. The Turkish lira fell 15 percent against the U.S. dollar after the news broke. Erdogan has replaced Agbal with Sahap Kavcioglu, a banking professor and former lawmaker for Erdogan’s Justice and Development party.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“War powers. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a closed hearing today on the legal rationale behind U.S. airstrikes in Syria last month. Witnesses include representatives from the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence community as Congress looks to rein in executive war-making powers. Writing in Foreign Policy on Friday, Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Barbara Lee made the case for repealing one of the authorizations for use of military force (AUMF), still in place since beginning of the Iraq War.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Trump’s return. Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s relative silence following years of bombast may be coming to an end. Former Trump advisor Jason Miller told Fox News that Trump would be back online in ‘two to three months’ on his own social media platform, the details of which have yet to be announced. ‘This new platform is going to be big, and everyone wants him. He’s going to bring millions and millions—tens of millions of people to this new platform,’ Miller said.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Kent Taylor, the founder and chief executive of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, died by suicide on Thursday after suffering from post-Covid-19 symptoms, the company and his family said in a statement. He was 65.
‘After a battle with post-Covid-related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, Kent Taylor took his own life this week,’ the statement said.
Mr. Taylor fought the condition, but ‘the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable,’ the statement said. It added that Mr. Taylor had recently committed to funding ‘a clinical study to help members of the military who also suffer with tinnitus,’ which causes ringing and other noises in the ear.
His body was found in a field on his property near Louisville, Ky., the Kentucky State Police told The Louisville Courier Journal. The State Police and the Oldham County coroner did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.” Read more at New York Times
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