POLITICO Nightly: The immigration ruling rattling Florida

 

BY ERIC BAZAIL-EIMIL Presented by A Cuban with his documents lines up at the U.S. embassy in Havana on May 3, 2022. | Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images IN LIMBO — As the U.S. grapples with an unprecedented wave of migration from Cuba, an immigration court ruling has placed hundreds of thousands of Cubans who arrived in the U.S. via the southern border with Mexico in legal limbo. It’s left lawmakers and advocates frustrated at what they say are chaotic and contradictory Department of Homeland Security border policies — and scrambling to figure out what happens next. The federal Board of Immigration Appeals ruled Monday afternoon that Cuban migrants who were granted an “order of release on recognizance,” also known as an I-220A, at the land border are not eligible to apply for permanent residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which has allowed Cubans paroled into the United States to apply for green cards after staying in the U.S. for over a year. The ruling can be appealed. And DHS has the authority to change the status of these migrants. But Cuban-American lawmakers worry that if the ruling stands and nothing is done, the sheer number of Cuban migrants affected could exacerbate the strain on an already backlogged immigration system. They also worry that Cubans would be barred from employment opportunities and could be made to return to the island, possibly exposing them to reprisals from the Cuban regime. Meanwhile, immigration advocates worry that the ruling could make the process for acquiring a green card more difficult for many other groups beyond just Cubans. Since the summer of 2021, record numbers of Cubans have arrived in the United States after mass demonstrations across the island and a stagnant Cuban economy drove many to flee the country. The added effect of closure of the U.S. embassy in Havana, which only reopened early this year, meant that Cubans could not apply for asylum within Cuba for several years. All of it has prompted many Cubans to go to Central America and take their chances at the land border. The exact number of Cubans affected by the ruling is unclear. Nearly 350,000 Cubans have been apprehended at the U.S. border with Mexico since October 2021 and thousands more have attempted to reach the U.S. via the Straits of Florida — larger flows than occurred during both the Mariel Boatlift and the 1994 Balsero crisis. Not all migrants received I-220As, since decisions to grant the orders were left to the discretion of border agents at ports of entry. Some Cubans were instead given humanitarian parole, adding to the confusion. Experts and immigration advocates estimate that as many as 200,000 Cuban migrants may have received I-220As before being allowed entry into the United States. Immigration advocates say the decision could negatively affect other groups of people seeking a change in their legal status. The ruling provides migrants with more options to exit detention centers and enter the United States by reducing the stakes for issuing I-220As. But it also gives the government wide powers to bar migrants from a pathway to legal status. For them, the ruling reveals the contradictions at the heart of the DHS strategy. “It shows DHS wants it both ways,” Emma Winger, a senior attorney with the American Immigration Council, told Nightly. “They fought vigorously against allowing people, recent arrivals, to obtain the protections of conditional parole and release through bond hearings. But on the flip side, they want to use their power to basically pick and choose release authority, with the result that they prevent people from gaining permanent status here.” DHS did not respond to requests for comment. South Florida’s Cuban members of Congress — all Republicans — are publicly voicing their frustration with the ruling. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told Nightly that the ruling hurts “people seeking freedom” and reflects the Biden administration’s “chaotic” approach to border security. “This is just another result of the irresponsible, grotesquely irresponsible, immoral, inhumane policy of this administration dealing with the southern border,” Díaz-Balart said. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who represents Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, is pushing for the Biden administration to rectify the situation and ensure that Cubans who received I-220As are afforded the benefits of the Cuban Adjustment Act. “I don’t get why a number of Cubans who came in in the last two years have not gotten that,” Salazar told Nightly. She says she’s spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the issue, who she described as “very cooperative.” Salazar voices confidence that the Cubans affected by the ruling will see their status shored up. “Oh no, no, it’s not gonna stay like that,” Salazar said as she walked down the stairs of the Capitol Tuesday night. “[The Cuban Adjustment Act] needs to be used for this group of half a million Cubans, most of them in my district. So yeah, we’re fighting.” “This hasn’t ended. This is just beginning,” she continued. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ebazail@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ebazaileimil .   A message from Citi: The metaverse may be the next generation of the internet , and its adoption could have a broad impact across sectors, including financial services. What counts as money in the open metaverse is likely to differ from what counts as money in the real world today. Money in the metaverse could exist in different forms, such as in-game tokens, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies. Learn about the potential impact in the Citi GPS Report, Metaverse and Money.   WHAT'D I MISS? — Romney won’t seek reelection in 2024: Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said today that he will not run for reelection , exiting the political stage after a two-decade career in public service that included the 2012 Republican GOP nomination for president and a term as Massachusetts governor. The 76-year-old announced his decision in a video statement in which he noted that he would be in his mid-80s at the end of another six-year Senate term and argued that the country is ready for younger politicians. “Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders,” he said. “They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.” — Hunter Biden sues ex-Trump staffer tied to laptop’s dissemination: Hunter Biden’s legal team is going on offense. In a lawsuit filed today, the president’s son is accusing former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler of violating California and federal computer privacy laws . The suit, which focuses on Ziegler’s publication of the purported contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop, as well as an encrypted iPhone backup, represents an escalation in the legal fights that have shadowed the Biden presidency. — Court blocks Jack Smith’s access to many of Rep. Scott Perry’s contacts about 2020 election: A top House conservative’s conversations with allies in Congress and the Trump White House about overturning the 2020 election are off-limits to special counsel Jack Smith , an appeals court ruled in a newly unsealed court opinion. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that prosecutors’ effort to access the cellphone communications of Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) with colleagues and executive branch officials violated his immunity under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate clause, which shields members of Congress from legal proceedings connected to their official duties. It’s unclear whether Smith will appeal the decision to the full bench of the D.C. Circuit or to the Supreme Court. — Jury’s fresh-air break could upend Navarro conviction: An unusual outdoor excursion by the jury that convicted Peter Navarro — just 30 minutes before delivering its verdict last week — is threatening to unravel the former Donald Trump adviser’s trial for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta held a hearing today to take testimony from the federal courthouse employee who escorted the jury outside for a fresh-air break as its deliberations wound down today. Navarro’s attorneys say that brief respite may have exposed the jurors to a smattering of protesters, some of whom wielded signs about Jan. 6 defendants and one of whom was later seen holding a sign referencing Navarro himself.   GO INSIDE THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DIPLOMATIC PLATFORM WITH UNGA PLAYBOOK: The 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four city blocks in Manhattan. POLITICO's special edition UNGA Playbook will take you inside this important gathering starting Sept. 17 — revealing newsy nuggets throughout the week and insights into the most pressing issues facing global decision-makers today. Sign up for UNGA Playbook .     NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 PRIMARY DATE PUNT — National Democrats are poised to punt yet again on deciding what to do about New Hampshire’s fraught 2024 primary when they meet this week to discuss the party’s nomination calendar, reports POLITICO. A top panel on the Democratic National Committee is expected to vote Thursday on a plan to give New Hampshire more time to comply with the national party’s demand that it hold its presidential primary after South Carolina’s contest in early February, according to a person familiar with the proposal. That would mark the third time this year that the DNC has pushed back the state’s deadline to make progress on adhering to the new primary calendar or get kicked out of the official early voting lineup altogether. President Joe Biden previously pushed for changes that stripped New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary and gave South Carolina the prized No. 1 spot. MISSILE DIPLOMACY — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wouldn’t rule out launching missiles into Mexico to combat drug cartels if he’s elected president, saying that it’s “dependent on the situation.” In a tense exchange with CBS Evening News’ Norah O’Donnell, the presidential hopeful was directly asked whether he would authorize an aerial attack inside the neighboring country. He began to respond, then pivoted. “We would use all available — the tactics, I think, can be debated. If you have something you want to accomplish, people would brief you on the different ways you’d be able to do it,” DeSantis said. “So, that would be dependent on the situation.” It’s the first time DeSantis, the most outspoken 2024 GOP presidential candidate when it comes to using military force at the border, has explicitly said he’d be open to using missiles against the southern neighbor. At the presidential debate in August, he said he would send U.S. special forces over the border — a statement that a campaign spokesperson later eased back to POLITICO. SO YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE — Donald Trump remains the clear 2024 favorite among Republican grassroots leaders, and in strong position to win his party’s presidential nomination. But there’s some evidence that the contest could become more competitive , writes POLITICO magazine. That’s according to a poll of GOP county chairs from across the country. Even as the former president continues to hold a real lead over his rivals, a large Republican contingent is undecided and remains open to other candidates. And this group is increasingly open to several other contenders — not just Ron DeSantis, but Tim Scott, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy. The most recent survey, conducted throughout August — with responses coming in both before and after the first GOP debate — show a slight softening of Trump’s support, but still with a substantial lead. As in June, roughly twice as many county party chairs are now committed to Trump (27 percent) than DeSantis (13 percent), and no other candidates had the support of more than 4 percent of chairs.   A message from Citi:     AROUND THE WORLD Electric cars waiting to be loaded on a ship are stacked at the international container terminal of Taicang Port at Suzhou Port, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province. | AFP via Getty Images CAR WARS — In the midst of an influx of Chinese electric cars to Europe, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched an anti-subsidy investigation today against Chinese imports . It’s a step that risks snowballing into a trade war that could make a tussle over solar panels with Beijing a decade ago look like a tea party, write Joshua Posaner , Barbara Moens and Stuart Lau . "Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies,” von der Leyen said in her annual State of the Union address. “This is distorting our market.” The stakes couldn’t be higher: China’s massive investments have established it as the dominant maker of the battery technology that powers clean cars. Global sales of electric vehicles are forecast to grow by nearly a third in 2023 alone to nearly more than 14 million units — worth $560 billion — and without fair competition the EU sees its industry losing out. The European car industry is worried — especially German auto makers that are most exposed to the vast Chinese market. “From the business point of view it runs the risk of retaliation,” one automotive lobbyist said on condition of anonymity. China has yet to comment, but the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU posted on X (formerly Twitter) to express its “strong concern and opposition” to the probe. That post was retweeted by Wang Lutong, head of the Europe department at the Chinese foreign ministry. With China already controlling 60 percent of global battery production, Brussels fears that, without countermeasures, Chinese companies will gain a stranglehold on EV markets just as major western economies on both sides of the Atlantic commit to tackling pollution by phasing out sales of traditional combustion engine vehicles.   JOIN 9/19 FOR A TALK ON BUILDING THE NEW AMERICAN ECONOMY : The United States is undergoing a generational economic transformation, with a renewed bipartisan emphasis on manufacturing. Join POLITICO on Sept. 19th for high-level conversations that examine the progress and chart the next steps in preserving America’s economic preeminence, driving innovation and protecting jobs. REGISTER HERE .     NIGHTLY NUMBER 3.7 percent The amount that prices rose over the past year, the fastest pace since May and an uglier number than President Joe Biden was hoping to see . But the government’s latest consumer price index report today is unlikely to cause panic at the Federal Reserve, which will decide next week whether to further raise interest rates. That’s because the CPI increase in August was driven by a surge in fuel prices, and there’s not much the Fed can do about that. RADAR SWEEP FLY EAGLES FLY — Almost 50 years ago, a group of conservationists reintroduced “sea eagles,” white tailed eagles that had died off due to being hunted by sheep farmers, to Scotland. The results have been impressive, as the eagle population has expanded and the reintroduction of the rare bird has drawn tourism that’s been worth about $10 million to the Island of Mull in Scotland . But the sheep farmers are still there, and the eagles remain opportunistic hunters, feeding on carcasses as well as attacking live animals. And farmers remain frustrated that for decades, conservationists refused to acknowledge that the eagles were preying on live animals, rather than only carcasses. It’s created an interesting local problem with broader societal implications — who gets to live and prosper on Mull? Read Emma Marris on the issue in Hakai Magazine, complete with evocative photos of the island. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1993: Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat — with President Bill Clinton following behind — shakes hands with Clinton's daughter Chelsea after signing the Oslo I Accord, marking the official start of a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty between Israel and Palestine. | John Duricka/AP Photo Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .   A message from Citi: The metaverse may be the next generation of the internet , combining the physical and digital worlds in an immersive manner. Today, the most popular way to experience the metaverse is via video games played on virtual reality (VR) headsets. However, as time goes on, the metaverse may help us find new and enhanced ways to engage with commerce, art, media, healthcare, and social collaboration. The adoption of the metaverse could have a broad impact across sectors, including financial services, and what counts as money in the open metaverse is likely to be very different from what counts as money in the real world today. Money in the metaverse could exist in different forms, such as in-game tokens, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and cryptocurrencies. Take a more in-depth look at the potential impact in the Citi GPS Report, Metaverse and Money.     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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Train and Socialize....fascist training

 

Copied. ...

Following a couple of links, I hit this article in Salon, published 7-18-2023, by Chauncey Devega. It was titled "Train and Socialize:..." about how fascists train their followers through their speech. This sentence stood out for reasons I will explain. "The charisma of the populist leader comes, in my view, from his ability to use language to captivate people's minds. The charismatic leader is a MASTER WORDSMITH (emphasis mine)...He does this through a constant mind-numbing repetition of the same metaphors, slogans, cliches, and catchwords. In literary circles, speech based on cliches or repetitive formulas is discouraged and considered anathema to good style. Trump's discourse is the opposite of this style. It is intentional...."

So here are my thoughts: a "master wordsmith"? Really? The man can't put together any kind of cogent thought! Second, is his "discourse" really intentional? Or is he just spewing the poisoned thoughts that run around his brain like rabid rats, and for some reason, his cultists lap it up?

I am seriously worried that our country has so many people who support him; who listen to his speeches and do not hear the complete lack of coherence and self-awareness that is so obvious in his vocalizations. His vocabulary is on the level of an average elementary school child; he does not use grammar, period; and he clearly knows nothing. I can't listen to his speeches on any kind of news show, but I have read transcripts, and wow: What a complete and total idiot. I can't imagine being an intelligent and educated person listening to his speeches at his rallies. That his cultists think his speeches are great is just terrifying for the future of this country.

Thank you for reading this.

Majority of US Dog Owners Hesitant About Canine Vaccines, Study Finds By Reuters | Sept. 12, 2023,

 HOW STUPID ARE WE AS A NATION TO CONTINUE TO BELIEVE DISINFORMATION & CONSPIRACY THEORIES? 

NO WONDER THE REST OF THE WORLD CAN'T COMPREHEND AMERICAN IGNORANCE 

Majority of US Dog Owners Hesitant About Canine Vaccines, Study Finds

By Reuters

By Rollo Ross

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The anti-vaccination movement that flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to also apply to dog owners, increasing the risk of disease for dogs, their owners and their vets, according to a new study.

The study of Canine Vaccination Hesitancy (CVH) by Boston University's School of Public Health was released on Aug. 26. It found 37% of owners consider dog vaccines to be unsafe, 22% of dog owners view them as ineffective, and 30% deem them unnecessary.

    In all, 53% of dog owners held one of these three views, according to the study, which was conducted in partnership with the market research and data analytics company YouGov.

"We knew that Canine Vaccine Hesitancy existed because of our anecdotal and lived in experiences. We didn't know how pervasive it was," assistant professor Matt Motta, the primary author of the study, told Reuters. He believes the study is the first of its kind.

    The rabies shot for canines is one of the only vaccines mandated in many U.S. states.

    However, veterinarians also try to persuade dog owners to get their pets vaccinated against other diseases. In California, vets recommend vaccines against parvovirus, canine hepatitis and distemper.

"If there are more unvaccinated dogs out there, the risk of disease transmission grows and likewise for veterinarian professionals like my sister, for all of us who may come into contact with unvaccinated pets, we are potentially at risk of getting sick," Motta said.

Todd Calsyn, a veterinarian at Laurel Pet Hospital in West Hollywood, said he was at first surprised that hesitancy was so great, but that the findings squared with questions he has received from dog owners.

    "I do think in this environment with the COVID vaccine and with everything that's going on ... it's starting to be getting projected on the pets," Calsyn said.

A UNICEF report in April found people all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID pandemic.

    Patty Sosa, 42, a dog owner from Laguna Beach, described the study results as "shocking."

    "You're trying to do your best but the other person refuses to do their part," Sosa said. "It's not fun. Not fun."

(Reporting by Sandra Stojanovic, Rollo Ross and Jorge Garcia in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

A man takes his dogs out in the fog for an early morning run along the 101 highway, in Encinitas, California, U.S., July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/file photoREUTERS

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2023-09-12/majority-of-us-dog-owners-hesitant-about-canine-vaccines-study-finds

More Dog Owners Are Questioning Vaccines Like Rabies After Covid

More than half of US dog owners expressed concern about pet vaccines, including against rabies, according to a new study

More than half of US dogowners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs.

Photographer: zoranm/E+/Getty Images

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Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal

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By Kristen V Brown

August 28, 2023 at 9:30 AM EDT

More than half of US dogowners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs.

Photographer: zoranm/E+/Getty Images

By Kristen V Brown

August 28, 2023 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-28/more-us-dog-owners-question-rabies-vaccines-amid-post-covid-anti-vaccine-wave#xj4y7vzkg