Let's look at some big political stories from this week that aren't about a potential Donald Trump indictment: 1. A Biden migrant policy could be in trouble The U.S.-Mexico border is uncharacteristically quiet these days. That's in large part because of a new rule President Biden's administration instituted to control a record influx of migrants. Those who cross the border illegally can no longer apply for asylum, for the next two years. That's despite federal law allowing anyone with a well-founded fear of persecution to request asylum once they reach U.S. soil, no matter how they got there. The rule probably just pushed everyone over into Mexico, where migrants wait to apply for asylum via a new smartphone app while "jammed into fetid tent camps similar to those President Biden deplored on the campaign trail in 2020," The Washington Post's Maria Sacchetti reports from the border. Charles Junia holds her goddaughter at a Haitian migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, last month. (Meridith Kohut for The Washington Post) | Migrant groups are challenging this policy in court. "We're talking about an essential human right being denied with very precipitous consequences," Michael Knowles, a spokesman for an organization that represents asylum officers, told Maria. The Trump administration tried to put in similar restrictions. A judge could issue a ruling on the policy as soon as next week, and this could go all the way to the Supreme Court. In addition to having a profound impact on people's lives, if Biden's rule is overturned and the border gets crowded again, it will shape U.S. politics: Republicans will hammer Biden and congressional Democrats over border issues in the upcoming election. 2. Students in Florida must now be taught that enslaved people benefited some from slavery Protesters in February in Tallahassee. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post) | Florida now says that students in the state should be taught that enslaved people "developed skills" that "could be applied for their personal benefit" and that when teaching about mob violence directed at Black Americans, teachers should make sure to note acts of violence that Black Americans committed, reports The Post's Lori Rozsa. This comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is running for president and a far-right parental group commands intense authority on the presidential campaign trail. (The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled Moms for Liberty an "extremist group" that spreads hate.) Democrats and teachers are aghast at this new rule. As Lori reports, Florida's largest teachers union said this was "a disservice to Florida's students" and "a big step backward." A Democratic state representative declared this a "scary standard for us to establish." And Vice President Harris (D) took this on the campaign trail: "They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it." This is only Florida's latest rollback related to minority students. Among a long list of restrictions on Black and LGBTQ+ teachings and rules is a prohibition on using transgender students' pronouns in school. 3. There's a big legal fight in Texas over the state's abortion ban Women suing the state of Texas hold a news conference in Austin this week. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images) | Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation — the only exception is if a woman's life is at risk. That has left many doctors afraid to act in potential gray areas. And now a group of women who were denied abortion and forced to give birth to nonviable fetuses are suing the state. They gave emotional testimony this week, with one woman crying and throwing up on the witness stand while describing a particularly gruesome birth after she was denied an abortion, report The Post's Caroline Kitchener, Ben Brasch and Rachel Roubein. What's different about this case, legal experts have pointed out, is that these are women who did not want an abortion — they wanted healthy pregnancies. They're asking for a narrow change in the law to allow doctors more freedom to help women in risky pregnancies without facing up to 99 years in prison. (A recent survey by the nonpartisan health research organization KFF found nearly 40 percent of doctors in states with abortion bans say they have faced restraints caring for patients experiencing miscarriages or other pregnancy-related emergencies.) There are other, novel legal attempts to weaken or end abortion bans. In Indiana and Kentucky, religious groups argue that their states' bans infringe on their religious freedom because they believe abortion should be allowed in at least some circumstances. Another route is to argue these bans violate the states' constitutions. South Carolina's highest court struck down the state's abortion ban when it agreed that the state constitution's right to privacy does allow a right to abortion. Meanwhile, Caroline reports that blue states are finding ways to help abortion providers mail pills to patients in states with abortion bans — and avoid prosecution for it. |
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