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EL PASO, Texas — The state of Texas deployed the National Guard to El Paso on Monday, a few hours before the Supreme Court paused attempts to lift a law that allows for migrants to be quickly expelled from the country. "We are seeing breaking news that Title 42 may not be lifted. The Covid-era law that has been governing the border since March 2020, known as Title 42, was set to expire Wednesday. Late Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts placed a temporary hold on a lower court ruling to end use of Title 42. The news about the possible ending of Title 42 was being passed among migrants, he said.

☆ The Biggest Debates and Opinions in 2022 - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +30 min

Opinion The 22 Debates That Made Us Rage, Roll Our Eyes, and Change Our Minds in 2022Debating is what we do here at Times Opinion. To many, she was an icon: She ruled for 70 years, presided over the transition from empire to commonwealth and served as a living link to the generation that won World War II. (Though Ben Bernanke, a former Fed chairman himself, wrote in The Times that that wasn’t going to happen.) The United States and its European allies poured weapons and aid into Ukraine, but how was this going to end? As 2022 draws to a close, the fighting continues and peace talks look as distant as ever — which probably means that the debates will continue.

☆ 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".

EL PASO, Texas — At a downtown convenience store, María paced anxiously in the cold scanning people arriving at a nearby bus station to find her husband. Migrants who have crossed the border and have been released by Border Patrol wait at the airport in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday. Erika Angulo / NBC News“There is no capacity in El Paso” shelters, said Fernando García, executive director for the Border Network for Human Rights. When they are processed by Border Patrol, migrants are given paperwork with instructions to show up in 90 days at a specific immigration court. Gabe Gutierrez and Erika Angulo reported from El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and Suzanne Gamboa reported from San Antonio, Texas.

☆ How Republicans are 'playing to the Fox News crowd' with attacks on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Republicans are escalating their attacks on TikTok. “It’s playing to the Fox News crowd,” a person close to TikTok, who requested anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to speak on the matter, said on Tuesday. The posturing comes at a pivotal moment in the years-long negotiations between TikTok and the US government on a potential deal that aims to address national security concerns and allow the app’s continued use in the US. But, as The WSJ recently reported, the national security talks have hit a snag as pressure mounts on the company. But the type of action being taken by Republicans seems more geared toward playing to their base than anything else.

The proposals have alarmed voting rights activists and state Democrats, who tried and failed last year to block a GOP-backed overhaul of election laws — a priority of Gov. The 62 voting rights-related bills Texas lawmakers have already prefiled represent nearly all prefiled voting rights legislation across the country, according to a review of prefiled bills by Voting Rights Lab and NBC News. An election police forceRepublican-authored Texas bills, such as HB 549 and SB 220, propose creating a system of state “election marshals,” who would investigate allegations of violations of election and voting laws, and file criminal charges when warranted. Harsher penaltiesLegislation such as HB 39, HB 52, HB 222, HB 397 and SB 166 aims to raise the penalty for election and voting rights crimes to a felony from a misdemeanor. “All my bill does is restore the felony punishment for illegal voting,” Texas Rep. David Spiller, the author of HB 52, said in an interview.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried gave $2.5 million to a leading political ethics watchdog. The group says it can't give the money back because officials already spent it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The Campaign Legal Center fights against lawlessness and unethical behavior in politics. Brendan Quinn, a spokesperson for the Campaign Legal Center, says the nonprofit organization cannot return or give away Bankman-Fried's money because the money is already spent. Asked whether the Campaign Legal Center would consider disgorging an amount of money equivalent to what Bankman-Fried contributed, Quinn noted that the Campaign Legal Center is not a political candidate or committee. The Campaign Legal Center has not yet provided Insider a copy, first requested December 2, of the most recent IRS 990 tax document filed by Campaign Legal Center Action, its advocacy arm. Former President Donald Trump has been a frequent target of the Campaign Legal Center's legal and ethics efforts.

☆ Indiana Attorney General files lawsuits against TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN Business —Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Wednesday announced he has filed two separate lawsuits against TikTok, which accuse the company of making false claims about the safety of user data, and age-appropriate content. “The TikTok app is a malicious and menacing threat unleashed on unsuspecting Indiana consumers by a Chinese company that knows full well the harms it inflicts on users,” Rokita said in a statement. “With this pair of lawsuits, we hope to force TikTok to stop its false, deceptive, and misleading practices, which violate Indiana law.”The lawsuits mark the most serious action taken yet by a state against TikTok, amid increasing attention to and concern about TikTok from state and federal officials in recent months. TikTok does not comment on pending litigation, but said, “the safety, privacy and security of our community is our top priority,” according to a statement from a company spokesperson. And there has been renewed criticism of TikTok this year, stemming from a Buzzfeed News report in June that said some US user data has been repeatedly accessed from China.

☆ Top elections official in Texas resigns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ top elections official resigned Monday after an intense year of trying to reassure election skeptics, navigating the rocky launch of new voting laws that resulted in thousands of discarded mail ballots and overseeing a limited audit of the 2020 election. Greg Abbott, came under immediate scrutiny from the moment he took the job in October 2021. Right away, Scott was tasked with trying to give Texas voters confidence about election results and the ability to cast a ballot after Republicans passed a sweeping new voting law just weeks before his appointment. But those efforts got off to a bumpy start during Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary as voters struggled to navigate new mail voting requirements, resulting in counties throwing out nearly 23,000 mail ballots. In the November elections, the rate of rejected ballots had returned to more normal levels, and Scott’s office said there were no major issues surrounding the election.

☆ How Trump’s legacy became ‘pure poison’ for independents
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Among female independents, Trump’s ratings were even worse: just 23% favorable and 72% unfavorable, according to previously unpublished exit poll results provided by the CNN polling unit. Trump’s unfavorable rating hit a comparable 69% among independents with at least a four-year college degree. That was a significantly smaller advantage than the double-digit lead among independents Democrats enjoyed in both the 2020 presidential race and the 2018 contest for the House. While Democrats held the presidency, Republicans won independents by double-digits in House elections in the midterms of 2014, 2010 and 1994. Gretchen Whitmer won 59% of the independents with degrees and 56% of women independents.

☆ Immigrant advocates challenge constitutionality of DeSantis' migrant flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Colbi Edmonds | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis on Thursday over his flights of migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in September. Venezuelan migrants gather at the Vineyard Haven ferry terminal in Marthas Vineyard, Mass. Carlin Stiehl / The Boston Globe via Getty Images fileThis is only the most recent lawsuit filed against DeSantis over the flights. DeSantis' immigration move escalated a tactic first used by Texas Gov. “Obviously, it’s sad that Martha’s Vineyard people deported them the next day, DeSantis said of the migrants he sent to Massachusetts in September.

☆ Meet 12 Republican officials crusading against BlackRock and ESG investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A group of vocal conservative officials are criticizing aspects of ESG investing. Players in the ESG ecosystem, like S&P Global and BlackRock, the world's largest money manager and an influential proponent of ESG investing, are often the subject of their critiques. Instead, officials often paint large financial firms' ESG strategies as functions of left-leaning agendas. Here are key GOP players who are taking aim at ESG investing. Abbott, who is seeking reelection in November, was early to denouncing ESG investing.

Residents of the country's fourth-largest city were told to boil water Sunday after pump-driven water system pressure dropped because of an electrical outage, triggering concerns of possible contamination. "We believe the water is safe but based on regulatory requirements when pressure drops below 20 psi we are obligated to issue a boil water notice," Turner said. A power outage Sunday at the East Water Purification Plant caused pressure to drop below 20 psi, or pounds per square inch, the state threshold that triggers boil water notices, Houston Public Works said. Water system pressure can use the weight of liquid to occupy cracks and crevices that might otherwise be exposed to outside incursions, such as urban runoff. "Houston’s water system is different than other systems in that we don’t use water towers to provide pressure to the system," it tweeted.

☆ A teen and his mom are starting over in another state after attacks on trans care
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

The department began opening investigations into families days later, but Laird told NBC News in March that she didn’t have plans to move. The family’s story reveals part of the impact Abbott’s directive is having on the families of trans youths in Texas. They left out of fear that Noah would lose the care recommended by his medical team, but also because the state was becoming increasingly hostile for trans people, Laird said. He added that Laird and Noah are far from the only ones who have left the state — he knows of several. At least three other families with trans kids have also said in interviews that they have moved.

☆ After Club Q attack, LGBT venues grapple with safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Kendall Allen holds a sign as she attends a vigil with her wife Kaycie Franks after a mass shooting at the Club Q LGBTQ nightclub, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., November 21, 2022. Those bars and other LGBT spaces around the country are again weighing how to keep their staff and patrons safe after a gunman killed five people and injured 17 more at an LGBT club in Colorado Springs. "It was definitely an eye-opening moment," said Eric Sosa, co-owner of C'mon Everybody and Good Judy in New York City. But as queer venues grapple with safety, several LGBT activists and club owners said no amount of security personnel or technology would protect them from the anti-LGBT rhetoric they blame for stoking such violence. Raimo still performs for adults, including a drag bingo night he was hosting on Tuesday at a Nashville gay bar.

☆ Scott Walker says it's 'dangerous' for Trump to attack DeSantis, encourages Republicans to look at a number of 2024 hopefuls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scott Walker cautioned Trump against attacking Ron DeSantis in the wake of the 2022 midterms. Scott Walker said it's "dangerous" for former President Donald Trump to attack Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the two Floridians eye a potential 2024 presidential primary clash. So far, Trump remains the only major Republican to have announced a 2024 run. Walker would not say that Trump shouldn't run in 2024, rather he called for an expansive field that could feature many current Republican governors.

☆ Fewer states than ever could pick the next president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Five states decided the last presidential race by flipping from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have each carried 20 states in every election since at least 2008. Democrats did not demonstrate the capacity to threaten any of the GOP’s core 20 states, as Republicans did in Nevada. A race with just Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona as true battlegrounds would begin with Democrats favored in states holding 260 Electoral College votes (including Washington, DC) and Republicans in states with 235. After 2022, the list of genuinely competitive presidential states may be shrinking, but, if anything, that could increase the tension as the nation remains poised on the knife’s edge between two deeply entrenched, but increasingly antithetical, political coalitions.

The investigation Abbott wants would be on top of an ongoing audit of the county’s election system, begun before Election Day. Texas Democratic Party leaders and the Harris County Democratic Party chair issued criticized Ogg’s planned investigation, calling on her to “stop enabling Texas Republicans' insidious efforts to silence Black and Brown Houstonians. “In 2021, Texas Republicans moved mountains to make it harder for Black and Brown residents of Harris County to vote. It has not gone unnoticed that Democrat-voting Harris County is the target of the state's urgent response. The law Abbott signed last year banned those Harris County initiatives.

☆ Child on bus of migrants from Texas hospitalized for dehydration, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Philadelphia officials lashed out at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday after a 10-year-old girl who arrived in Philadelphia on a bus of migrants from Texas was hospitalized with dehydration and a fever. The busload included 28 people in total, including 23 adults and five children, Philadelphia officials said at a press conference Wednesday. "This information was confirmed late yesterday without coordination or warning by Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office through a press release," Kenney said at the press conference held by city officials. In recent months, Abbott has repeatedly sent migrants on buses from Texas to other major cities, including New York and Washington, D.C. Florida Gov.

Those were among the driving questions leading up to the midterm elections about Latino voters. Latino voters have long had themes attached to them for elections. Greg Abbott, who declared he would get more than half of Texas' Hispanic vote, finished with 40 percent, 2 percent less than in his last election. That helped create a "bridge opportunity" with Latino voters, said Sanchez, also a University of New Mexico political science professor. George W. Bush was elected with 35% of the Latino vote and did even better in getting re-elected with 40% of the Latino vote.

☆ Texas GOP looks to restrict transgender health care and drag shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Texas Republicans introduced several bills this week that target the transgender community, including at least two measures seeking to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors and one bill looking to prevent children from attending drag performances. For minors, this type of care typically includes puberty blockers, which are recommended to trans youths before the onset of puberty, or hormone therapy for teenagers. The Texas bills come on the heels of a previous attempt this year by the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, to deem transition-related care for minors as child abuse under state law. Greg Abbott, the state’s Republican governor, subsequently called on citizens to report parents of transgender minors to the state if they suspect these minors are receiving gender-affirming care. The state’s current definition of “sexually oriented businesses” includes any venue where two or more people perform nude and alcohol is served.

☆ What Title 42 is and how it connects to El Paso migrants
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The judge’s order ending Title 42 isn’t scheduled to go into effect until December 21. Is there a connection between Title 42 and what’s been happening in El Paso? At this point there isn’t any known connection between the rise in crossings and the looming end of Title 42. Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters“We’re talking about Title 42 being lifted and what that would do here in the community. “Title 42 was never about public health, and this ruling finally ends the charade of using Title 42 to bar desperate asylum seekers from even getting a hearing,” he said in a statement.

Audiences will see how the battle in the Texas Legislature over gender-affirming care for trans children is far from a mere partisan philosophical argument or campaign talking point for me. That’s the year a flood of anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in the Texas Legislature — the majority of which directly targeted trans kids and their families. This year dealt Texas trans families a double blow when state Attorney General Ken Paxton delivered a nonbinding legal opinion that gender-affirming care for children was child abuse — followed by a directive from Gov. We acted quickly as a family, breaking the news of our pending out-of-state move to Noah over an unforgettably sad dinner. Despite it all, Texas is where our hearts reside, no matter how many miles might separate us and how directly damaging Republican rhetoric has been.

☆ Trump launches 2024 U.S. presidential run, getting jump on rivals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Steve Holland | Andy Sullivan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Trump steered clear of the name-calling that has marked other public appearances, opting instead for a critique of Biden’s presidency and a review of what Trump said were the policy achievements of his own time in office. Biden, 79, said last week he intends to run for re-election and will likely make a final decision by early next year. TRUMP’S PRESIDENCYDuring his turbulent 2017-2021 presidency, Trump defied democratic norms and promoted “America First” nationalism while presenting himself as a right-wing populist. Trump has elicited passionate support from many Americans, especially white men, Christian conservatives, rural residents and people without a college education. Ivanka Trump was not at the event, although her husband Jared Kushner was along with her brothers Don Jr. and Eric.

☆ US Customs and Border Protection chief resigns after initially declining Biden administration request to step down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chris Magnus resigned as chief of Customs and Border Protection on Saturday, per the White House. "Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Senate confirmed Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection over the past year. "We are thankful to Commissioner Magnus for his contributions over the past year and wish him well," Mayorkas wrote in his letter. Magnus, the former police chief in Richmond, Calif., and Tucson, Ariz., had overseen over 60,000 employees who were largely focused on border security and counterterrorism issues. Border security has become a major issue for Biden, with Republicans and even some Democrats needling the administration over the level of undocumented migrants being caught by agents.

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