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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to members of the press after a weekend in Delaware, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 19, 2024.
Judge blocks Biden policy for undocumented spouses
A Texas judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from granting legal status to unauthorized immigrants married to American citizens following a challenge by 16 Republican-led states.
The policy allows unauthorized immigrants and their children to apply for temporary work permits and deportation protections if they are married to US citizens, have lived in the country for at least 10 years, and pass background checks.
The coalition of red states said the policy incentivizes illegal immigration, and the judge agreed the states raised legitimate questions about the authority of the executive branch to bypass Congress and set immigration policy.
One week after taking effect, the judge halted the program estimated to affect half a million immigrants living in the US without legal status, disrupting a major move taken by President Joe Biden in June on immigration, a top campaign issue in the 2024 race for president. The policy was popular among the 22 million people living in mixed-status households and was one of the most sweeping moves to give undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship since Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was enacted in 2012 to protect immigrants who came to the United States as children.
Putin's rare North Korea visit will deepen ties
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
Will Putin's rare visit to North Korea strengthen anti-West alignment?
It's deepening the relationship. There's no question. He hasn't been in North Korea in decades. And I mean they call it the Hermit Kingdom. It's completely totalitarian. It's incredibly poor. But they have a massive military and they've been providing an awful lot thousands and thousands of train containers, of weaponry, of ammunition, of artillery. And those containers haven't gone back empty from Russia. And there's been a lot of sense of technology that's been transferred. The interesting thing will be whether or not, this leads to more provocative North Korean behavior vis-à-vis the South and Japan, because they think they can get away with it because they have coverage from Russia. And will they start coordinating diplomatically, in response to the NATO threat, in response to, you know, the way that the war in Ukraine is going? Be interesting to watch. It's not what China wants to see, but that is certainly a piece of what happens when a couple of states considered pariahs and rogues by the West, are developing a real alliance.
Is escalation of war between Israel and Hezbollah inevitable?
Nothing's inevitable. It's looking more likely by the day. I've been very concerned about this second front. I didn't think it was going to open up in the early months because Israel is a small country and they've got a lot of people, a lot of forces that are fighting on the ground in Gaza. But as the war in Gaza, I don't want to say wraps up because I don't think that's going to happen, but at least winds down and becomes less about taking and controlling and rooting out Hamas in across all of the territory, and is less military intensive in terms of troops, then the Israelis can move a lot of those troops up to the north. And I think that is increasingly likely in part, because you have 100,000 Israelis that are evacuated still. And the Israeli leaders say a lot, you know, they got to get them back for the school year. That's September. It's coming up soon. And secondly, because Hezbollah is increasingly engaging in strikes against Israel and most recently, really invasive surveillance drone, you know, intervention, including the port of Haifa. So it's really showing off to the Israelis that we're going to hit you hard. We're going to make this really hurt. They're a hell of a lot more powerful militarily Hezbollah is than Hamas. So if this happens, it's going to be a lot bigger deal in terms of the impact and the casualties.
Will President Biden's new citizenship plan bolster his campaign?
I guess a little bit in the sense that it's an issue that is top two for most voters, inflation and the migration issue. And, you know, he has been taking a harder line on number of migrants coming in. So now he's offering the spouses that don't have citizenship, but their spouses do, you know, are going to have improved treatment. That's a give, especially in a lot of states, where you have lots of those people, and states that he needs those votes. Every vote matters. Is it really gonna help his campaign at the end of the day? This is a tough one. On balance, I think that, Trump does better on this issue in the same way Biden does on abortion.
Asylum seekers fill the sidewalk outside of the Roosevelt hotel in midtown Manhattan, New York City.
“This will destroy New York City”: What the Big Apple’s immigration crisis tells us about the 2024 elections
Immigration has long been a hot button issue in US politics, typically pitting Republicans, who advocate for tougher crackdowns on undocumented migrants, against Democrats, usually more open to asylum seekers. But New York City is currently flipping the script on that.
This week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams – a Democrat – gave a scathing address about the influx of migrants who’ve entered the city over the past year, around 100,000 in total. Many have been bused in from Republican-run states.
Adams said that another six buses carrying migrants arrived in the city on Wednesday, and blasted the White House’s immigration policy. This will “destroy New York City,” he said.
(Read more about the factors leading to an uptick in migration to the US here and here.)
A recap. Over the past year, Republican governors in Texas and Florida have sent busloads of migrants to Democrat-run “sanctuary cities” that have a range of policies that aim to protect undocumented migrants’ rights. Cynical GOP ploy? Maybe. But the strategy has brought into renewed focus the argument that traditionally pro-migrant Democratic states on the coasts don’t appreciate the systemic pressures facing border states.
It isn’t just the mayor. Adams, an unpredictable politician who’s also a former cop and a former Republican, isn’t the only New York Democrat calling out the Biden administration. Gov. Kathy Huchul, a party stalwart broadly regarded as a Biden ally and a pragmatist, has also taken aim at the White House for the current crisis, which has seen around 10,000 migrants enter the state per month, putting immense pressure on local budgets that need to fork out funds for housing, schooling, and meals.
Adams says the governor has been too slow to dole out state funds to help the city cope and that the federal government should be doing more both to slow the flow of migrants and to support the city’s ability to absorb those who make it through.
Both Hochul and Adams have called on the White House to expedite work authorizations for asylum seekers to ease pressure on the city and state. Biden, currently touring Asia, has stayed mostly mum.
Democrats in general have good reason to be worried about how this is playing. Last year’s midterm elections were disastrous for the New York branch of the party, with Republicans – who ran largely on an anti-crime agenda – making gains in suburban areas throughout the state.
With immigration a top concern for many US voters, and 82% of New Yorkers polled describing the migrant influx as a “serious problem,” the Democratic Party is in a difficult spot: Any efforts to slash funding for the 57,000 migrants currently in New York City’s care – which some Dems in vulnerable seats have backed – will ignite the left. But doing too much could create more backlash in more moderate or swing district areas of New York state that the party needs to win in order to take back the House of Representatives next year.