Daily News Brief

January 6, 2023

Top of the Agenda

President Joe Biden announced that authorities at the southern U.S. border will immediately begin expelling undocumented migrants (WaPo), including asylum seekers, who arrive from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. The rules are an expansion of Title 42, a pandemic-related border policy that already allows for the expulsions of migrants from most countries. Biden also said that up to thirty thousand migrants from those three countries and Venezuela will be admitted to the United States each month. They will be able to live and work in the country for a two-year parole period but must apply from abroad and have a U.S. sponsor.

Biden said he resorted to the new rules as a result of congressional inaction (NPR) on immigration reform. Rights groups criticized the measures, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) saying the expansion of Title 42 “will put more lives in grave danger.”

Analysis

“[The announcement] represents an expansion of the use of parole to manage large migration events, vs. expansion of asylum. I imagine that’s in large part due to the resource constraints of the asylum system,” the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Theresa Cardinal Brown tweets.

“What’s happened over the last year or two is that we’ve gotten so far from any kind of uniform asylum policy,” Refugees International’s Yael Schacher tells Grid News. “We have one that’s completely dependent on nationality. How you’re going to be treated at the border completely depends on where you came from.”

This Backgrounder unpacks the U.S. immigration debate.

Pacific Rim

The head of the country’s national police offered his resignation (AP) and encouraged other police officials to follow suit after some officers were caught dealing drugs.

China: Beijing plans to relax restrictions on property developers’ borrowing, Bloomberg reported. The restrictions were imposed in 2020 to reduce risk in the finance sector and make homes more affordable.

This CFR meeting discusses the prospects and consequences of China’s economic slowdown.

South and Central Asia

The court transferred to itself (The Hindu) all high court cases related to legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

This Backgrounder compares marriage equality laws around the world.

Pakistan: The UN Development Program estimated that an additional nine million people could be pushed into poverty (UN News) because of the heavy flooding that struck Pakistan over the summer. In addition, eight million people remain displaced. 

Middle East and North Africa

Ankara has said it would recognize the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in exchange for guarantees that U.S.-backed Kurdish rebels in northern Syria will not be allowed to form an autonomous area, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.

Lebanon: A military court charged seven people (AP) for an attack that killed a UN peacekeeper from Ireland last month. 

Sub-Saharan Africa

Internal UN documents seen by Reuters showed that rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) could be active in parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that they had pledged to withdraw from by December 23.

Uganda: The country’s Ebola outbreak is coming under control (RFI), with no new cases reported for thirty-nine days, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Europe

U.S. President Joe Biden announced the commitments (The Guardian) after a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

Russia/Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s forces will begin a thirty-six-hour cease-fire (NYT) in Ukraine in observance of Orthodox Christmas.

Americas

Gunmen from the Sinaloa Cartel staged retaliatory attacks (The Guardian) in the northern Mexican city of Culiacán after police captured Ovidio Guzmán López, a central figure in the cartel since the arrest of his father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera.

This Backgrounder looks at Mexico’s long war on drugs.

Paraguay/Taiwan: The opposition’s presidential candidate, Efraín Alegre, said he would end the country’s diplomatic recognition (Reuters) of Taiwan if elected in April. Paraguay is one of fourteen countries to formally recognize Taiwan.

Friday Editor’s Pick

The New York Times discusses evidence that Russian forces have committed widespread sexual crimes in Ukraine, likely with the knowledge or encouragement of top officials.

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