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☆ Joe Biden's biggest successes and failures in his second year in office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

His second year in office was marked by historic legislative achievements despite Democrats' razor-thin majority in Congress. Here are some of the highs and lows from Biden's second year:Success: UkrainePresident Joe Biden talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House. Conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens in September called the "staggering gains" by Ukrainian forces "a victory for Joe Biden, too." Universal pre-K was included in a sweeping spending plan passed by House Democrats until their Senate colleagues cut that out too. Failure: InflationPresident Joe Biden arrives for an event focused on inflation and the supply chain at the Port of Los Angeles in June.

☆ A Mexican restaurant will replace Rep. Lauren Boebert's former gun-themed restaurant
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The location of Rep. Lauren Boebert's former gun-themed restaurant is being filled by a Mexican restaurant. Shooters Grill, where waitresses proudly holstered firearms on the job, closed its doors in July. In July, Shooters Grill closed its doors for good after the landlord did not renew its lease, according to a tweet from Boebert. Now that Boebert's restaurant has shuttered, it appears that its location is going to be filled by a Mexican restaurant, Tapatios Family Mexican Restaurant, which now has emblazoned its "coming soon" sign on the premises' front window. Insider verified the location of the new restaurant by finding that "TAPATIOS2 LLC" was established in October at the same location as the former Shooters Grill.

Doug Ducey has agreed to dismantle a makeshift border wall that triggered a lawsuit by the federal government and rankled environmentalists. The agreement comes one week after federal officials filed a lawsuit against Ducey’s administration saying the border project was illegally built on federal land. Protesters spent weeks camping in freezing temperatures along the border wall, and had vowed to stay there until the containers were removed. Karamargin said the assurance from federal officials paved the way for Ducey to agree to remove the shipping containers. The shipping container project cost Arizona at least $82 million, Karamargin said.

☆ Democrats fret as Biden tries to bolster re-election case touting legislative wins
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Carol-Lee-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

WASHINGTON — As 2022 draws to a close, President Joe Biden plans to give an upbeat national address Thursday afternoon with a unifying message. Biden would be traveling the country touting reduced insulin prices and new road projects, while House Republicans hold hearings into obscure conspiracy theories. The first is Biden runs and loses, perhaps to a younger Republican opponent who eclipses Trump as the new GOP favorite. His top aides have been meeting privately with left-leaning interest groups urging them to go out and showcase Biden’s record. “President Biden became the first president since FDR in 1934 to not lose a single incumbent United States Senate seat” in the midterms, Donilon wrote.

☆ Biden comes under pressure over expected easing of U.S. asylum rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The policy, known as Title 42, is due to end on Dec. 21, and thousands of asylum seekers have been lining up at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the easing of restrictions. "It's a very dire situation," U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, a Republican, told CBS's "Face the Nation". Gonzales called on Biden to revive past policies that tried to speed up asylum review and expedite deportations. U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who also represents Texas, urged Biden to enact a policy requiring people to only request asylum at official border crossing points. "And if they don't follow that pathway they need to go back," Cuellar told "Face the Nation".

☆ ‘Inconvenient Anti-Semites’ in New York’s War on Hate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Elliot Kaufman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

After a long month of attacks on Jews in New York City, the big guns held a symposium at a Manhattan synagogue Monday. Kathy Hochul , Sen. Chuck Schumer and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pledged to fight anti-Semitism. Americans Against Antisemitism has studied 194 anti-Jewish assaults and 135 property incidents in New York City since 2018 but can identify only two offenders who have been sentenced to prison. Others receive probation or counseling or their charges aren’t followed up. “There are practically no serious consequences to be had,” the group concludes in a July report.

☆ Kevin McCarthy's impossible GOP math
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is far from assured of winning sufficient support in his party to become House speaker next month. The tiny GOP House majority that takes over in January, after a disappointing midterm performance, would mean a fragile governing mandate for any party at any point in American history. McCarthy’s impossible mathFrom a broader political perspective, it might be in McCarthy’s interest to stand up to the most extreme members of his conference. The path to the GOP majority went through comparatively moderate seats in places like New York that will be most at risk in the 2024 election. But it also reflected Greene’s growing personal power, after she broke with some radical GOP members and lined up to support McCarthy’s speakership.

☆ Biden administration warns of potential influx of migrants immediately after Title 42 ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Administration officials have been bracing for an influx of migrants when a public health authority, known as Title 42, ends next week. In September, Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans accounted for almost half of encounters along the US southern border, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas underscored the whole of government approach in a statement, noting that mass movement of people around the globe has posed a uniquely difficult challenge. In October, the administration rolled out a humanitarian parole program geared toward Venezuelans to encourage them to apply for entry into the United States instead of crossing unlawfully. But the calculus of migrants may change when Title 42 lifts, the memo says.

Schumer, a New York Democrat who has long pressed the administration to terminate Title 42, is far from alone. Since March 2020, when the authority was invoked, border officials have turned away migrants at the US-Mexico border more than two million times. But just days away from the anticipated end of Title 42, plans are still being sorted out. The Biden administration is also asking Congress for more than $3 billion as it prepares for the end of Title 42, according to a source familiar with the ask. It is not specific to the end of Title 42, the source said.

☆ Effort to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas will only complicate the immigration puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

They want the incoming Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee to launch an impeachment investigation of Mayorkas ASAP in early January. While their alleged crimes are very different, any impeachment effort against Mayorkas would likely end similarly: Belknap was acquitted in a Senate trial. Democrats, controlling the Senate majority, would surely do the same if Republicans could even muster the majority needed to impeach Mayorkas. McCarthy would rather just see Mayorkas resign, although there’s no indication Mayorkas will. “If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure.

“The States will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay from the termination of Title 42 for the reasons discussed in the motion,” the states argue in the filing, citing a separate ruling that blocked the end of Title 42 earlier this year. Since March 2020, when the authority was invoked, border officials have turned away migrants at the US-Mexico border more than 2 million times. “Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso. The Biden administration is asking Congress for more than $3 billion as it prepares for the end of the Trump-era border policy later this month, according to a source familiar with the ask. It is not specific to the end of Title 42, the source said.

☆ El Paso faced a ‘major surge in illegal crossings’ over the weekend, senior border official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —More than 2,400 migrants crossed into the United States near El Paso, Texas, daily over the weekend, according to a senior Border Patrol official, marking what he described as a “major surge in illegal crossings” in the region. “Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso. We will continue to keep the public informed as the situation evolves,” said acting Chief Patrol Agent Peter Jaquez of the El Paso Sector in a tweet. El Paso city has been monitoring the situation and is in ongoing discussions with federal, state and local partners, according to Laura Cruz Acosta, strategic communications director for the city. The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it had deployed additional agents to El Paso amid the surge, claiming that criminal smuggling organizations are behind the influx.

“I’ll get 218,” McCarthy told CNN, referring to the votes he’d need to become House speaker. Video Ad Feedback Bash asks Pelosi if McCarthy has what it takes to be House Speaker. “I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals,” said Biggs, who lost his conference’s nomination to become speaker last month after securing 31 votes. But McCarthy’s detractors said it’s an issue very much still on the table and think he may end up needing to embrace it if he still doesn’t have the speaker votes by January 3. But he refused to rule out a scenario where his caucus would help elect the next speaker if McCarthy couldn’t get the votes.

☆ McCarthy's struggle to lock down House Speaker roils GOP caucus, delays key committee assignments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A spokesman for McCarthy did not respond to questions from CNBC about the committee vote schedule. Instead, both sides have dug in over the past week, telling reporters they're ready to take the fight all the way to the House floor on Jan. 3. "Oh yeah, I'll take the speaker's fight to the floor," McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol recently. "The goal was never to embarrass Kevin McCarthy on the [House] floor, no one wants that," she said. It also prompted McCarthy to issue a long statement condemning her prior remarks, which he said "do not represent the values or beliefs of House Republicans."

☆ U.S. says it will expand, extend temporary status for Haitians
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration said Monday that it would expand temporary legal status for Haitians already living in the United States, determining conditions in the Caribbean nation were too dangerous for their forced return. The Homeland Security Department said Haitians who were in the United States Nov. 6 could apply for Temporary Protected Status and those who were granted it last year could stay an additional 18 months until Aug. 3, 2024. The administration has extended temporary status for several countries and expanded or introduced it for Haiti, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Cameroon and Venezuela, reversing a Trump-era trend to cut back on protections for those already in the United States. Haitians who enter the United States after Monday’s announcement will be ineligible for TPS, authorities said, though that may do little to discourage some. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who called last week for an expansion and extension, said more than 100,000 Haitians will be eligible for temporary status under Monday’s announcement.

☆ Real ID deadline for air travel extended another two years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Colbi Edmonds | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it is extending the deadline to require Real ID-compliant identification for air travelers, pushing the start date from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025. The extension will give states more time to ensure residents have driver's licenses and identification cards that comply with enhanced security standards under the Real ID Act. The deadline for the new IDs has already been extended previously. Congress passed the new standards as part of the Real ID Act in 2005, based on a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. The enhanced security standards for state-issued identification cards and driver's licenses aim to make IDs harder to counterfeit and allow records checks.

☆ North Carolina electric grid shooter 'knew exactly what they were doing,' sheriff says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Fields' comments came as North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned of a "new level of threat" posed by the incident and called for hardening of critical infrastructure including the power grid. “Protecting critical infrastructure like our power system must be a top priority,” said Cooper, a Democrat, in a press briefing on Monday. Schools in Moore County will be closed for a second day on Tuesday and 38,000 households were still without power amid freezing nighttime temperatures after the Saturday shootings. The saboteur "knew exactly what they were doing to cause the damage and cause the outage that they did," Fields said. That is nearly everyone who the company serves in Moore County, spokesperson Jeff Brooks said at a press briefing on Monday.

☆ Border crossings are already near record highs, and the end of a Covid ban this month could bring still more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Despite new restrictions on asylum-seekers, daily migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have remained near record highs, say three sources familiar with the latest numbers, as the Biden administration braces for a possible extra surge of thousands more per day when Covid restrictions end this month. Policymakers in Washington, as well as officials at the southern border, have long predicted a surge in migrants when the policy is lifted. In October, the U.S. began using Title 42 to turn away Venezuelan border crossers, whose numbers were soaring. When Title 42 lifts, migrants of all nationalities will be able to come into the U.S. to make asylum claims, just as they did before the Covid-19 pandemic. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has previously detailed plans for lifting Title 42 that would allow for a faster asylum process that would move to quickly deport those who do not qualify.

☆ Biden weighs reviving Trump-era immigration restrictions, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Since Biden took office in January 2021, his administration has struggled both operationally and politically with record numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Another U.S. official said the Biden administration is also considering other Trump-era deterrents that include having Border Patrol agents conduct accelerated asylum screenings. The policies under consideration, if adopted, would sharply backtrack on those pledges and have already drawn concern from immigration advocates. Similar Trump policies were challenged in court and overturned. Republicans, who take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January, have assailed Biden's handling of the border and threatened to impeach his top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

☆ Colombia wants Biden admin. to grant temporary legal status to its citizens in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia wants the Biden administration to grant temporary legal status to its citizens now living in the United States, noting its own efforts to address regional migration by hosting 2 million Venezuelans who fled their homes. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, he asks President Joe Biden to grant Colombians already in the U.S. a form of temporary status called Deferred Enforced Departure. It is unclear how many Colombians are living in the United States without legal status. Murillo Urritia said there are nearly 2 million Colombians living in the United States, without elaborating on their immigration status. The Biden administration has extended temporary status for some countries and added Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Cameroon and Venezuela, reversing a Trump-era trend to cut back on protections for those already in the United States.

☆ Threat environment in U.S. to remain heightened in coming months, government says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The threat environment in the United States will remain heightened in coming months, with lone offenders and groups motivated by a range of ideologies posing a danger, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday. Wednesday's bulletin, called the "National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin", was issued to provide the public with information about the threat landscape facing country and how to stay safe. "Our homeland continues to face a heightened threat environment - as we have seen, tragically, in recent acts of targeted violence - and is driven by violent extremists seeking to further a political or social goal or act on a grievance," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. It was the seventh such advisory issued by DHS since January 2021, when officials turned fresh attention to domestic threats after supporters of then-President Donald Trump had attacked the U.S. Capitol. Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday struggled over a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to implement guidelines - challenged by two conservative-leaning states - shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats. The justices voted 5-4 vote in July not to block Tipton's ruling halting the guidelines, announced last year by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. When the Supreme Court also declined to stay Tipton's ruling, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent. Prelogar called the states' claims of indirect harms insufficient to allow them to sue and urged the Supreme Court to limit the ability of states more generally to challenge federal policies in court. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Andrew Chung in Washington; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The court on a 5-4 vote declined in July to put U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton's ruling hold. On Tuesday, some of the conservative justices who were in the majority in that decision signaled that they were likely to rule against the administration again. Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines after Republican-led legal challenges successfully thwarted other Biden administration attempts to ease enforcement. When the Supreme Court declined to stay Tipton's ruling, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent. Prelogar called those indirect harms insufficient and urged the Supreme Court to limit the ability of states more generally to challenge federal policies.

☆ Supreme Court Considers Challenge to Biden Policy Curbing Immigration Arrests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jess Bravin | Michelle Hackman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Supreme Court will hear a case that began when Texas and Louisiana sued to invalidate immigration-enforcement guidelines. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider the executive branch’s power to set priorities in enforcing immigration law, in a case that also tests the legal standing of states to bring their policy differences with Washington to court. Last year, Texas and Louisiana sued to invalidate enforcement guidelines, issued by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, that prioritize the deportation of those immigrants illegally in the country who pose an imminent threat to national security or public safety. That approach replaced Trump-era policies that sought to have immigration officers remove any noncitizen present illegally.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to consider whether President Joe Biden's administration can implement guidelines - challenged by two conservative-leaning states - shifting immigration enforcement toward public safety threats in a case testing executive branch power to set enforcement priorities. Biden campaigned on a more humane approach to immigration but has been faced with large numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines after Republican-led legal challenges successfully thwarted other Biden administration attempts to ease enforcement. Circuit Court of Appeals in July declined to put that ruling on hold, Biden's administration turned to the Supreme Court. The administration also told the justices that the guidelines do not violate federal immigration law and that the mandatory language of those statutes does not supersede the longstanding principle of law enforcement discretion.

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