This is the sixth edition of the Biden Tracking newsletter. I said last week that I would have this newsletter out last Monday, but I caught COVID so that delayed things a bit. It has also been a fairly slow few weeks.
In the last few weeks, we learned the Biden Administration was expanding Title 42, the Biden Administration was pardoning 6 people, and the Biden Administration was issuing new COVID guidance for China. It is Tuesday, January 3rd, Day 714 of the Biden presidency.
Friday, December 23rd (Day 703)
On December 23rd, Biden officially signed the $858,000,000,000 “defense” budget. The budget is $45,000,000,000 more than what President Biden proposed, and $76,000,000,000 more than last year. We are quickly approaching 5-year highs in terms of percent of GDP spent on the military. It is equally depressing that federal spending on more important civil services isn’t increasing to the same extent.
Tuesday, December 27th (Day 707)
Supreme Court Votes to Keep Title 42
In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court decided to keep the arguably illegal Title 42 immigration policy, which expels migrants without an Asylum hearing, in place. It’s unclear why the Supreme Court can force the Biden Administration to keep this Trump-era pandemic mitigation policy. While the Biden Administration is against the decision and appears (we will get to this in a moment) to want to end Title 42 in its current form, they have argued that they should have the ability to use Title 42 in the future.
Biden Administration Issues New COVID Precautions for China
The Biden Administration issued new testing requirements aimed at stopping new COVID surges in China from spreading to the United States. While these requirements are not the full-scale travel ban issued to African countries in the wake of the Omicron surge in 2021, they come from the same flawed mentality. We have seen that just targeting specific countries does not work at stopping the spread of COVID. What it does do, is scapegoat the countries where restrictions are enacted. As I said in my tweet on the situation, these restrictions would never have been applied to an Eastern European country.
Thursday, December 29th (Day 709)
Biden Administration Expands Title 42 to Include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans
Just two days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden Administration couldn’t end Title 42, the Administration expanded expulsions to include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans. While this does come with the possibility of a new program to make it easier to apply for asylum for migrants with a U.S. sponsor, it is still an incredibly disappointing decision. Not only is Title 42 not an effective way to stop the spread of COVID, it simply does not work as an Immigration deterrence. It may be good optics to deal with Conservatives, but it is a terrible policy.
Friday, December 30th (Day 710)
On Friday, President Biden pardoned 6 people who had served sentences and had shown they were productive members of society. The pardoned persons include five who had committed drug or alcohol crimes and one who had been convicted of second-degree murder in an abusive relationship. While pardons are a good thing, many activists were disappointed at how few people had been pardoned and how long it had taken for these pardons to occur.
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