Migrant fight expands to suburbs, could force federal shutdown

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Happy New Year! It’s Saturday, Jan. 6, and we’d like to welcome you to the weekly State and Local Roundup—our first in 2024. There is plenty to keep tabs on with bomb threats having forced evacuations in at least 18 state capitols, new laws going into effect nationwide, Florida getting approval to import drugs from Canada and Arizona creating its own deepfake election hoaxes to prepare for 2024.

But first we start with the migrant crisis, where the stakes continue to grow as any type of relief remains elusive and the politics grow more contentious. 

Public officials are blaming each other for the haphazard response, which most recently has involved hundreds of migrants being stranded in the suburbs of cold Northern cities where few services are available to help them. At the state and local level, officials are struggling to find shelter, direct migrants to places where services are available and shoulder the millions of dollars in extra expenses. On the border, it has thrust Texas into a series of court fights with the Biden administration over immigration policy. And at the federal level, it has led to calls for a Biden Cabinet official’s impeachment and could impact budget negotiations and result in a partial federal government shutdown.

The mayors of Chicago, Denver and New York spent much of the holiday break pleading for help with the influx of migrants to their cities.

“What we have is clearly an international and federal crisis that local governments are being asked to subsidize,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said on CBS News’ Face the Nation last week. “This is unsustainable. None of our local economies are positioned to be able to carry on such a mission.”

Most of the newcomers are from war-torn regions or countries in economic collapse. They are arriving here seeking asylum, which means, at least initially, they are in the country legally. But federal laws prevent them from working for at least six months, and application backlogs can make that wait even longer. That limits their ability to find food, shelter and other necessities while their cases are being processed. Many arrive in the country without adequate clothing, money or family connections.

Big-city mayors have been complaining about being hung out to dry for more than a year now, since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, began paying for buses to take the migrants to cities known as Democratic strongholds.

Suburban Fallout 

But in recent weeks, the feud between the Texas governor and out-of-state politicians has escalated. Chicago and New York, for example, both passed regulations meant to limit the times and locations where buses could deliver migrants. So Texas-chartered buses started leaving the asylum seekers at suburban transit stops or highway rest stops in New Jersey and the Chicago suburbs. Texas even sent a Boeing 777 with 355 migrants from San Antonio to Rockford, Illinois, that landed at 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. The migrants then boarded buses paid for by Texas and were dropped off in suburbs throughout the Chicago area.

Now, suburban officials are trying to discourage buses from dropping off migrants in their borders. Many have passed their own ordinances imposing fines and threatening bus seizures for companies that make unscheduled stops with migrants. A handful of Chicago suburbs approved higher taxes for extended hotel and motel stays to prevent migrants from staying there. Grundy County, far to the south of the city, passed an ordinance last month declaring itself a “non-sanctuary county.” The mayor of Edison, New Jersey, said he has a charter bus on standby to send migrants back to the border.

New York Lawsuit

New York Mayor Eric Adams raised the stakes this week in the feud with Texas, as New York filed a lawsuit against 17 bus companies that have helped deliver migrants to the city. New York said the companies violated a state law that makes it illegal to transport someone to the state for the purpose of making them a “public charge.” It is asking that the bus companies be ordered to cover the cost of caring for the migrants they brought to New York, which it estimates is at least $708 million.

The city also accused the companies of operating in “bad faith” to avoid new rules for unscheduled drop-offs. The companies were compensated well to do so, the city said, noting that they received roughly $1,650 per person to transport migrants on chartered buses, compared with the $291 it would cost for a one-way ticket on regularly scheduled buses.

Abbott, a former Texas attorney general, said the lawsuit was baseless.

“Every migrant bused or flown to New York City did so voluntarily, after having been authorized by the Biden administration to remain in the United States,” Abbott said in a statement. “As such, they have constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with. If the mayor persists in this lawsuit, he may be held legally accountable for his violations.”

Border Fortifications 

The governor has made border security a central part of his identity. Last year, he ordered razor wire to be installed on a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to deter migrants from crossing there, a move that the Biden administration opposes. This week, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol agents to cut through the barriers, which it says prevent agents from reaching migrants who have already made it to U.S. soil.

A federal appeals court last month sided with Texas in the dispute, concluding that federal agents were trespassing when they removed the wire from private land. But U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the high court that decision was “manifestly wrong.”

“The injunction prohibits agents from passing through or moving physical obstacles erected by the state that prevent access to the very border they are charged with patrolling and the individuals they are charged with apprehending and inspecting,” Prelogar wrote in an attempt to get the high court to reverse the decision through its emergency docket. 

“If accepted,” she added, “the [appeals] court’s rationale would leave the United States at the mercy of states that could seek to force the federal government to conform the implementation of federal immigration law to varying state-law regimes.”

The motion goes to Justice Samuel Alito, who can rule on it or distribute it to the full court.

The dispute over the razor wire comes just one month after a federal court ruled that Texas must remove a floating barrier of buoys from the Rio Grande River, which Abbott ordered to be installed to deter migrant crossings.

Capitol Hill Fights

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, brought more than 60 House Republicans to the Texas border with Mexico this week to tour a migrant processing facility and talk with local residents and sheriffs. Johnson called the situation an “unmitigated disaster” as he called for the passage of a new law that would make it nearly impossible for most migrants to qualify for asylum.

Johnson wants to include punitive measures for would-be migrants in an upcoming spending bill, but that has garnered little traction with the White House or the Democratic-led Senate. The standoff over immigration between House Republicans and the Biden administration could prevent a deal to avoid a partial government shutdown later this month.

House Republicans on the chamber’s homeland security committee, meanwhile, indicated that they would start impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas next week for his handling of the migrant crisis.

Keep reading as there’s more news to use below, and if you don’t already and would prefer to get this roundup in your inbox, you can subscribe to this newsletter here. We’ll see you next week.

News to Use

Trends, Common Challenges, Cool Ideas, FYIs and Notable Events

• ELECTIONS: Supreme Court to hear case on whether Trump can hold office. The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether former President Donald Trump is ineligible for Colorado’s Republican primary ballot because he had engaged in insurrection in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The case, which could alter the course of this year’s presidential election, will be argued on Feb. 8. The court will probably decide it quickly, as the primary season will soon be underway. The decision to hear the case comes as more motions are filed in states to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot. Voters in Illinois and Massachusetts this week filed challenges, and sast week, Maine’s secretary of state removed Trump from that state’s 2024 primary ballot.


• STATEHOUSES: Bomb threats force evacuations in several state capitols. Bomb threats were reported in more than a dozen state capitols Wednesday morning, forcing evacuations from statehouse buildings and interrupting court proceedings, according to officials and local news outlets. Security threats were reported in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The FBI said it was aware of “hoax” bomb threats in state capitols around the country, but had “no information to indicate a specific and credible threat.” The bureau said it was working with state, local and federal law enforcement to gather, share and act on information.


• DRUGS: FDA approves Florida's plan to import cheaper drugs from Canada. The Food and Drug Administration says it has authorized Florida's proposed program to import selected drugs. Under federal law, any state or tribe can submit a proposal for importation, and a few have. The law allows importation of certain prescription drugs in bulk if doing so would save Americans money without adding safety risks. Florida's proposal, championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, is the first to be OK'd by the agency. The state has to clear more hurdles, however, before imports could begin. Among other things, it has to specify which drugs it wants to import, verify that they meet FDA's standards and relabel them.


• LAWS: New 2024 state laws impact guns, pornography, taxes and even fuzzy dice. That’s right, fuzzy dice finally will be free to dangle in Illinois. Police there are no longer allowed to pull over motorists solely because they have something hanging from the rearview mirror of the windshield The revised Illinois windshield rule is one of hundreds of new laws that took effect with the new year in states across the U.S. While some may seem a bit pedestrian, others have real practical effects or touch on controversial issues such as restrictions on weapons and medical treatments for transgender people.


• GUNS: California law banning most firearms in public takes effect amid legal fight. Last Saturday, a federal appeals court stayed a lower court’s ruling blocking a California law that prohibits people from carrying concealed guns in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. The ban applies regardless of whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The California Rifle and Pistol Association sued to stop the law. When U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction to block it, he wrote that the law was “sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.” The appeals court decision allows the law to go into effect as the legal fight continues. Attorneys are scheduled to file arguments to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in January and in February.


• ELECTIONS: 6 states are rethinking how they run their primaries in 2024. Nearly all of the six states considering changing their primary election systems this year are looking at ways to open up partisan primaries to involve more voters. Partisan primaries are some of the lowest-turnout and most important elections in the U.S., where gerrymandering has significantly reduced the number of competitive races. Supporters say opening up primaries to all voters would reduce extremism in politics and engage more Americans, while critics say the parties are entitled to nominate candidates as they choose.


• FINANCE: State tax cutting trend faces headwinds in 2024. Income, sales, property and gas taxes: Almost every U.S. state cut at least one such broad-based tax as budget surpluses soared over the past three years. Some states made permanent tax reductions. Others passed one-time rebates or temporary suspensions. Though even more tax cuts are likely, the trend may be slowing as 2024 legislative sessions begin. That’s because the pandemic-era revenue surge fueled by federal spending and inflation now is receding and, in some states, even reversing into negative numbers. “Next year will likely be a return to normal for state budgets,” said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers. “Funds will be more limited. States will have to make decisions on what areas they prioritize.”


• REMOTE WORK: Court postpones Nebraska governor’s order to end remote work.  A state labor court put a temporary halt last week to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s order to end “remote” working arrangements of state workers. A three-member panel of the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations, citing a state statute, ruled that the “status quo” in working arrangements must continue until it can rule on an objection filed by the union that represents state employees. Justin Hubly, the executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, said in a press release that the labor panel recognized “the harm” that could ensue if the Jan. 2 order went into effect. The order impacts a relatively small number of state employees, about 1,300. But Hubly said those employees have said that such a change will disrupt their family and child care arrangements and cost them more in parking fees and commuting expenses. A union survey found that many are considering seeking new jobs as a result of the order.


• UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS: N.H. considers Florida-style law on driver’s licenses for immigrants. Legislators in New Hampshire are looking to criminalize undocumented immigrants driving with legal out-of-state licenses. The new bill introduced this year in the New Hampshire Senate by 10 Republican legislators would invalidate any licenses issued elsewhere in the country without providing proof of lawful residence. Drivers would be punished with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a fine or probation. Nearby Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont all have laws allowing residents to obtain licenses regardless of immigration status. Fifteen other states across the country also issue licenses without proof of lawful residence. Meanwhile, Florida has laws invalidating some out-of-state licenses issued without proof of immigration status.


• CENSUS: Several Midwestern cities are going to be counted again like it’s 2020. Four years after the last census, almost a dozen small communities in the Midwest are going to be counted again in hopes of getting a new grocery store or more state funding to build roads, fire stations and parks. Eleven small cities in Illinois and Iowa are the only municipalities so far to have signed agreements with the U.S. Census Bureau for a second count of their residents in 2024 and 2025. With one exception, city officials don’t think the numbers from the original count were inaccurate. It’s just that their populations have grown so fast in three years that officials believe they are leaving state funding for roads and other items on the table by not adding the extra growth to their population totals. Some also believe that new results from a second count will open up their community to new businesses by showing they have crossed a population threshold.


• AI: Arizona creates own deepfake election hoaxes to prepare for 2024. After his key swing state became a magnet for election fraud conspiracy theories in the 2020 presidential election, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is leading a series of exercises to prepare the Grand Canyon State for a range of likely threats to next year’s vote, foremost among them the use of open access AI tools to amplify disinformation. Arizona held the first such simulation last month, a two-day exercise involving roughly 200 stakeholders from across the state and a handful from the federal government. In it, Fontes tried to fool participants by presenting them with AI-generated audio and video of key officials—including Fontes himself—spinning falsehoods. The exercise in Arizona underscores how concerned election experts and public officials across the country have become about the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence, which criminals, conspiracy theorists and U.S. adversaries are already using to perpetrate a range of scams. 


• MARIJUANA: President Biden pardoned marijuana use nationwide. Three days before the Christmas holiday, President Joe Biden announced that he's issuing a federal pardon to every American who has used marijuana in the past, including those who were never arrested or prosecuted. The sweeping pardon applies to all U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents in possession of marijuana for their personal use and those convicted of similar federal crimes. It does not apply to individuals who have been jailed for selling the drug, or other marijuana offenses such as driving under the influence of an illegal substance. The implication of Biden's pardon promises to have significant implications, as criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities. Biden issued a similar pardon last year, but the recent proclamation went further in that it forgave all instances of simple marijuana use or possession under federal law.


• WILDLIFE: Can beavers help drought-stricken, flood-prone California? For the first time in four centuries, it’s good to be a beaver. Long persecuted for their pelts and reviled as pests, the dam-building rodents are today hailed by scientists as ecological saviors. Their ponds and wetlands store water in the face of drought, filter out pollutants, furnish habitat for endangered species and fight wildfires. Over the past several years, a team of beaver scientists and Google engineers have been teaching an algorithm to spot the rodents’ infrastructure on satellite images. The algorithm will get its first major test in California. The Nature Conservancy and Google plan to run the model across the state sometime in 2024, a comprehensive search for every last beaver dam and pond. That should give the state’s wildlife department a good sense of where its beavers are living, roughly how many it has and where it could use more. The model will also provide California with solid baseline data against which it can compare future populations, to see whether its new policies are helping beavers recover.

Picture of the Week

Here it is: #Energy #history!
At 11:52 p.m. on January 2, 2024, the first #turbine rotation from our nation-leading #VineyardWind 1 project that delivered the very first #offshorewind power to the #Massachusetts grid. pic.twitter.com/6Ez2PHc4Iv

— Vineyard Wind (@VineyardWindUS) January 4, 2024

Electricity from the country’s first large-scale offshore wind project is officially flowing into Massachusetts and helping to power the New England grid. The Vineyard Wind project achieved “first power” late Tuesday when one operating turbine near Martha’s Vineyard delivered approximately five megawatts of electricity to the grid, reported WBUR. The company said it expects to have five turbines operating at full capacity in early 2024. The moment marks a major milestone for the project and the country at large, which has long struggled to build offshore wind. It also comes amid great economic turmoil and uncertainty for the industry, making the launch of the utility-scale project all the more significant.

Government in Numbers

42

The number of states that have expanded their Medicaid postpartum coverage from two months to 12, according to a December White House Fact Sheet and KFF. That is up from just three states two years ago. The Medicaid program finances about 4 in 10 births in the country, and federal law requires states to provide pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage through 60 days postpartum. To help improve maternal health and coverage stability and to help address racial disparities in maternal health, a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 gave states the option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months.body