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In first lawsuit against Biden administration, Texas AG challenges deportation freeze
AUSTIN, Texas — Following through on his promise to sue the Biden administration early and often, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked a federal judge to block a new policy that pauses most deportations for the next 100 days. The policy, which went into effect Friday, was announced by acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske as part of a comprehensive review of immigration enforcement, particularly amid the challenges posed by COVID-19. The pause, Pekoske said in a Wednesday memo to immigration officials, will let the agency focus resources on its most pressi...
Austin American-Statesman
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Trudy Rubin: Biden’s first big foreign policy test will be fixing the COVID-19 vaccine mess
President Joe Biden was absolutely correct when he said “the world is watching all of us today,” as he delivered his inaugural address Wednesday from the very spot where a mob stormed the Capitol two weeks before. Biden’s message “to those beyond our borders” was that “America has been tested and we’ve come out stronger … We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. And we’ll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” But beneath the warm — and relieved — congratulations that poured in to Biden from leaders of allied nations in Europe ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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'Essential' lawmakers begin session in Sacramento as COVID-19 cases among employees continue
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As California lawmakers head to Sacramento Monday to kick off the 2021-2022 session during a massive COVID-19 surge, multiple recent cases among Capitol community employees underscore the challenges facing the Legislature ahead of its second pandemic year. The state has reached a critical point in its fight against the coronavirus. Hospital and intensive care unit beds are filling up, which has triggered new regional stay-at-home orders. California recorded a record 30,075 new cases on Saturday, and its seven-day positivity rate has hit 10.3%. To slow the spread of the vir...
The Sacramento Bee
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California lawmakers take trip to Hawaii amid COVID surge, travel advisory
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — COVID-19 has squashed most holiday and vacation plans this year amid travel restrictions and quarantine recommendations to slow the spread of the virus.Yet some California lawmakers have traveled to Maui this week for the California Independent Voter Project’s annual policy conference.A San Diego-based group that works to empower “nonpartisan voters and promote nonpartisan election reform through initiatives,” the project’s summit has historically offered a chance for lawmakers, lobbyists and industry representatives to rub elbows over cocktails while discussing policy und...
The Sacramento Bee
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Florida Democrats tell DeSantis to rescind job offer to COVID conspiracy theorist
MIAMI — Nearly all members of Florida’s Democratic congressional delegation sent a letter Thursday to Gov. Ron DeSantis demanding that he remove Kyle Lamb, an Ohio sports blogger who has spread coronavirus conspiracy theories on the internet, from his position as a data analyst at the governor’s office.“We write to express our grave concerns with your decision to hire Kyle Lamb as a data analyst at the Florida State Office of Policy and Budget (OPB) and the implications of your decision on the health and safety of Florida’s residents as the COVID-19 pandemic continues,” the letter states. “Giv...
Miami Herald
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CDC declares masks also protect wearers from COVID-19, joining scientific consensus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says masks, even cloth ones, protect wearers from catching, as well as spreading, the coronavirus.Yes, this is the same national health agency that initially said masks do not safeguard the general public and are needed only by health-care workers. It is the same agency that, a few months later, said a mask won’t protect the wearer from inhaling the virus — but you should wear one anyway to protect other people in case you’re infected but don’t know it.On Tuesday, the CDC caught up with the mounting science that shows masks do indeed prot...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Gov. DeSantis' latest hire for COVID-19 data team: Uber-driving, coronavirus-conspiracy sports blogger
MIAMI — When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis needed to hire a data analyst, his staff picked a little-known Ohio sports blogger and Uber driver whose only relevant experience is spreading harmful conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on the internet.In his own words, Kyle Lamb of Columbus, Ohio, has few qualifications for the job at the state’s Office of Policy and Budget, which pays $40,000 per year.“Fact is, I’m not an ‘expert.’ I’m not a doctor, epidemiologist, virologist or scientist,” Lamb wrote on a website for a subscribers-only podcast he hosts about the coronavirus. “I also don’t need to be. E...
Miami Herald
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An Obama-era rule forces mortgage lenders and housing providers to fix policies that cause racial disparities. Now advocates are fighting to keep it from being 'gutted'
In 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development passed what’s known as the “disparate impact” rule to protect marginalized people from policies that deny them a fair shot at safe housing.Now, as the department seeks to change the rule and make it harder for accusers to make their housing disparity case, the National Fair Housing Alliance and other advocacy organizations have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt the change, just as it was set to go into effect Oct. 26. A judge temporarily stopped the change while the lawsuit moves forward.Fair housing advocates are concerned th...
Chicago Tribune