The immigration quagmire

Democrats can't use their $3.5 trillion social spending package to give millions of immigrants a chance to become citizens, the Senate parliamentarian ruled last night. Citing the sweeping changes that such legislation would make in immigrants' lives, Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate's nonpartisan interpreter of the chamber's rules and a former immigration attorney, said the language "is by any standard a broad, new immigration policy." It's a major setback for President Biden, congressional Democrats, and the pro-immigration community, as it greatly decreases the possibility of unilaterally enacting immigration reforms that would allow several categories of immigrants to gain permanent residence and possibly citizenship. —MarketWatch

• — Down on the border, out in the street. More than 12,000 migrants, identified by border officials as mostly Haitian, have been gathering for several days under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, awaiting immigration processing. The migrants say their squalid encampment is short of supplies. Initially, U.S. officials allowed them cross back and forth into Mexico to bring food and other goods. Yesterday, however, officials told the migrants they would not be able to return to the U.S. side if they ventured into Mexico. —Reuters
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• — "There isn't room for them in the city anymore." In what could be one of America's swiftest, large-scale expulsions of migrants or refugees in decades, the U.S. is flying some of the migrants back to Haiti and processing others. Since Friday, 3,300 migrants have been removed from the Del Rio camp to planes or detention centers, Border Patrol Chief Raul L. Ortiz says. He expected to have 3,000 of the approximately 12,600 remaining migrants moved within a day, and aimed for the rest to be relocated from under the bridge within the week. —Associated Press
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• — In other immigration news… The U.S. government is accepting new applications for an Obama-era immigration policy that allows some U.S.-based parents to bring their children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to the country legally. The acceptance of new petitions marks the final stage of the Biden Administration's revival of the Central American Minors initiative, which U.S. officials have portrayed as a safe and legal alternative to the often dangerous trek migrant children undertake to reach the southern border. —CBS News

Downie: The high cost of Covid incompetence

"According to seven-day rolling averages, as of Sunday, the five states with the highest per capita covid death rates are all governed by Republicans, as are 12 of the top 13. [Mississippi Gov. Tate] Reeves may protest that 'this virus is not just attacking Republicans in red states,' but under Republican leaders in red states, there are too many needless deaths. Politicians like Reeves have prioritized their political views over their constituents' lives—and those constituents have paid the price." —James Downie in The Washington Post

James Downie is the digital opinions editor at The Washington Post.

MORE: U.S. panel backs COVID-19 boosters only for seniors, high-risk —Associated Press

French kiss-off

At President Biden's request, he and President Emmanuel Macron of France will speak by phone in the coming days about a diplomatic crisis that has erupted between the two countries. The falling-out was caused by a deal Australia struck with the U.S. and the United Kingdom for eight nuclear-powered submarines. The deal led to a sudden end to a multibillion-dollar contract between France and Australia to build 12 conventional subs. France insists it was not informed of the deal in advance and recalled its ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia in a sign of the seriousness of the crisis. Macron will seek explanations from Biden about what led to a "major rupture in confidence," a French government spokesman said. "There was a moment of shock, of anger… Now, we must advance." —CBS News

MORE: As leaders reconvene at UN, climate and COVID-19 top the list —Associated Press

Richie & Daley: Electoral reforms that would actually work

"A proportionally elected House would not only fulfill a deeply American vision of equality, but help parties represent their 'big tents,' incentivize cooperation, and give everyone a voice without hijacking majority rule. Independents would be able to hold the major parties accountable without splitting the vote. Minority voting rights would be reliably protected, and women would gain new opportunities to level the playing field. Everyone would have the voice they win at the polls, no less and no more. Incentivizing our politicians this way would be the most meaningful change we could make to address gerrymandering, and also to make a broken Congress function again." —Rob Richie & David Daley in The Tribune-Review

Rob Richie is the president and CEO of FairVote. He is the co-author of "Every Vote Equal" and "Whose Votes Count?" David Daley is a senior fellow at FairVote and the author of "Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy."

MORE: Where redistricting stands in 14 states —The New York Times

Anderson: How the world's democracies can move forward

"[I]t is possible for existing democracies to strengthen themselves and work together to fight the coronavirus, climate change, and economic inequality. … The autocratic regimes should be contained as democratic nations move forward together. Idealism and realism in international relations have been the two dominant approaches for 100 years. Our idealist tradition developed as a response to World War I and our realist tradition was fully developed during the Cold War. These are dated binary alternatives. A robust approach of pragmatism is still waiting to be articulated and advanced, one that would have a natural home in the American pragmatist tradition." —Dave Anderson in The Fulcrum

Dave Anderson edited "Leveraging: A Political, Economic, and Societal Framework," has taught at five universities, and ran for a Maryland congressional seat in 2016.

MORE: Summit gives Biden chance to nudge post-Soviet states toward democracy —The Hill

Focus on the Russian election

Russia held a parliamentary election over the weekend, and (surprise, surprise) it looks like President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party will cruise to an easy victory. Though the results show a rise in opposition to the governing party—United Russia is projected to win 44% of the vote, 10 percentage points less than in the 2016 election—Russian elections are not free and fair, so the ultimate result was a foregone conclusion. Parliament's role in recent years has mainly been to rubber-stamp the Kremlin's initiatives while providing a veneer of democratic legitimacy to Putin's rule. —The New York Times

• — Something's not right. Election-monitoring groups and independent media reported widespread voting irregularities. Russia's electoral commission director said more than 100 complaints of voter coercion had been reported by Saturday. The Golos election-monitoring organization recorded thousands of procedural violations on the first day of voting alone. News website Znak said a Moscow resident was offering 1,000 rubles to people who voted for United Russia. Local media outlets also reported fraud, ballot stuffing, unsecured ballots, and more. —Deutsche Welle
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• — Ploys for power. Unlike most other authoritarian countries, Russia has a multiparty political system that was already entrenched when Putin came to power in 1999. To deal with this, the Kremlin uses a variety of strategies and deceitful tactics to keep its hold on power even as support for United Russia declines—running duplicate candidates and fake political parties, disqualifying opposition candidates over made-up charges, buying votes, regulating the internet, and others. —The New York Times

1. — They caved. Just as voting began, Google and Apple pulled a pro-opposition voting app from their app stores in the latest in a series of concessions the tech companies have made to Russia in order to keep operating in the country. The Kremlin pressured them for weeks to take down the voting app, threatening fines and accusing them of illegal election interference. Created by allies of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the app offered recommendations across each of Russia's voting districts for candidates with the best shot of defeating the dominant United Russia party in each race. —WIRED

Litman: The House select committee isn't a 'partisan sham'

"It is the best and perhaps last hope we have of countering the GOP's falsehoods—that there was no insurrection, that the rioters were peaceful protesters, and that the only danger to our democracy was a 'stolen' 2020 election. In fact, the committee could achieve a major breakthrough. With the right legal incentives—sweeping information and document requests and orders, subpoenas issued and enforced, testimony under oath—some of Washington's biggest liars may meet their match. Americans of all political stripes should champion the effort. A full accounting of Jan. 6 is a core requirement for maintaining America's democracy." —Harry Litman in Los Angeles Times

Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and host of the podcast "Talking Feds."

MORE: Inside Thompson and Cheney's Jan. 6 probe alliance—both genuine and strategic —Politico

GOP faithful need to choose between Donald Trump and conservative economic thought. On Friday morning, KPCC radio station asked GOP voters what they thought about the prospects for getting California to vote for a Republican after Gavin Newsom's thorough repudiation of the recall. Most said disavow Trump; moderate social positions, especially women's right to choose; and make realistic economic proposals. Add me to that mix. —Nancy B., California

Please, it's past time to put Donald Trump in the past. He feeds on attention, so let's do everything we can to focus on moving on, and that includes ignoring his antics and his "opinions." Don't give him the attention he craves! —Fran W., Virginia

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.