Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment trial in the Senate is scheduled to start today after the House delivered its two articles of impeachment yesterday, reports Richard Cowan of Reuters.
Many lawmakers are among those who see the impeachment as political. Democrats have talked about dismissing the impeachment articles quickly, but senators may reach an agreement to allow debate, Leila Fadel and Claudia Grisales of NPR report. Further procedural hurdles also are among Republicans’ potential tactics, Cowan notes.
National security leaders, including many veterans of Republican administrations, have been outspoken against Mayorkas’ impeachment. "A partisan impeachment based on policy disagreements will exacerbate existing polarization and risks undercutting our national security," Council on National Security and Immigration (CNSI) leaders said in February.
Separately on NPR this morning, Denise Gilman, co-director of the University of Texas School of Law's immigration clinic, tells A Martinez that shutting down the border — as President Biden is considering — would mean "refusing to process asylum seekers."
Whereas Title 42 was ostensibly a public health measure, Biden is considering using a part of the law that former President Trump used for travel bans, predominantly for people from majority-Muslim countries.
"That provision, in some circumstances, allows for the exclusion of certain specific categories of individuals, but it does not allow for a wide-scale shutting down of an entire asylum program at the border," Gilman said. In the courts, she added, "I feel pretty confident that this action would not go very far."
Reporters — Jennie just visited the border and is available for interview.
Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Darika Verdugo and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
ASSISTANCE — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is allotting $300 million to help localities and organizations assist incoming migrants, including $12.2 million for the El Paso, Texas, sector, reports Heriberto Perez of KVIA. Together with a competitive grant program still to be established, the nationwide amount is down 18% from last year, as Andrea Castillo reports in the Los Angeles Times. The Department of Homeland Security is urging Congress to pass a bipartisan national security bill that would provide more funding, Castillo notes.
(MIS)INFORMATION — Social media and technology have revolutionized the way potential immigrants receive information — and misinformation — about the journey to and life in the United States, Harrison Hanvey and Julia G. Young write in an op-ed in The Hill. Ultimately, new technology and information channels "present both greater problems for migrants and those who
respond to migration, as well as greater possibilities for intervention and improvement," they write.
DETENTION — Concerns persist around a private immigrant detention center in Tacoma, Washington, Peter Talbot of The News Tribune reports in a deep dive. The facility is known for using solitary confinement and chemical agents on detainees and promoting a work program that has drawn objections. The Tacoma City Council, the state Legislature and local activists all have been involved in efforts to close the center, but courts have ruled that state and
local power is limited.
OKLAHOMA — Similar to efforts in other states, a proposed Oklahoma law would punish people who come to the state and stay without authorization, reports Lionel Ramos of KGOU. Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat (R) says the bill is meant to deter people without authorization from coming to Oklahoma; his statement also [inaccurately] cites "endless opportunities" via legal
immigration. "Anti-immigrant bills like HB 4156 breed fear and mistrust within our communities," said Gabriela Ramirez-Perez of the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
