| Kamala Harris is tapped to lead White House immigration efforts; African countries compete for vaccines in global shortages. Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. | | | | | | | Harris takes lead role on immigration as moderates try to make a deal | | | | | dpa/Picture Alliance/Getty Images | | - As political pressure mounts on President Joe Biden to manage the influx of migrants arriving at the southern border, he has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to manage a portfolio of immigration-related issues. [CNN / Kevin Liptak and Jasmine Wright]
- As the new immigration point person, Harris is stepping into a politically fraught issue in which major legislation has been elusive in recent years. The role will be a foreign policy one, in which she will be tasked with addressing the root causes of migration in Central America and working with leaders in Mexico and Northern Triangle countries to address the surge. [Politico / Eugene Daniels]
- Republicans are already seeking to punish Biden and Harris on this issue, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy leading a caucus trip to the border to declare the border influx to have been created by Biden's positive messaging on immigration. [Intelligencer / Matt Stieb]
- Data from Customs and Border Protection, however, suggests the apparent surge in migrants at the border is the result of a routine seasonal trend and pent-up demand in the pandemic. [Washington Post / Tom K. Wong, Gabriel De Roche, and Jesus Rojas Venzor]
- A picture of the situation at the border became more clear over the weekend, when a report showed that the administration currently has 15,500 unaccompanied minors in custody at emergency shelters and facilities, some of which have been compared to jails. They stay for an average of five days. [Vox / Anya van Wagtendok]
- The border struggles are being compounded by coronavirus health concerns. Officials at the Carrizo Springs Influx Care Facility in Texas, for example, said there have been 108 positive tests among the 766 children at the facility. [NBC News / Lauren Egan, Gabe Gutierrez, and Dareh Gregorian]
- Meanwhile, a group of bipartisan senators discussed immigration at a weekly lunch — a rare, if potentially futile, attempt to build consensus. Because an immigration bill would not be budget-related and would need to clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said any immigration deal would have to go through the bipartisan group. [Washington Post / Paul Kane]
- Another bipartisan group convened by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) gathered specifically to talk immigration yesterday — though expectations are decidedly low. A comprehensive immigration bill "is never going to work," Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said, but smaller items like asylum reform have better chances. [Politico / Sabrina Rodriguez, Burgess Everett, and Marianne Levine]
- But even bills that used to have bipartisan support have been swept aside by Republicans in favor of using the border surge as a political punching bag. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), for example, co-sponsored a bill this year offering legal status to Dreamers. He now says due to the border situation, he would not even vote for it. [The Los Angeles Times / Sarah D. Wire]
| | | Experts fear vaccine shortages in Africa | | - A second wave of coronavirus cases in some African countries has proven more infectious than the first, though still less deadly than in Western nations. But without strong vaccine rollouts in African nations, experts are cautioning that future waves could pose bigger problems. [CNN / Ivana Kottasová]
- John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said as vaccine delays impact the continent, the situation could devolve into a vaccine competition — in which everybody loses. [The Associated Press / Rodney Muhumuza]
- Africa has 17 percent of the world's population, but has administered only 2 percent of global vaccines thus far. Vaccines negotiated through the global Covax initiative or through other deals in Kenya, for example, have arrived late and with fewer doses than initially promised. [The New York Times / Abdi Latif Dahir and Benjamin Mueller]
- An increase in production could be helpful, but currently only one percent of vaccines used in Africa are manufactured on the continent. Barriers including intellectual property rights, the complexities of knowledge transfer and the fact that many African production facilities are already busy producing other vaccines. [Devex / Sara Jerving]
- Many African nations, such as South Africa, have experience with mass vaccination campaigns. But South Africa's attempts thus far have been stymied mostly due to limited supplies and struggles in rural areas, and the country has negotiated bilateral vaccine deals. [The Financial Times / Joseph Cotterill]
- One country that has seen success — and could become a model for others — is Rwanda. Rwanda's vaccine campaign includes collaboration between federal and local governments, in which village leaders' input has been solicited to create tailored distribution practices. [The Telegraph / Anne Gulland]
| | | | | | | Early in the pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration provided special access to coronavirus testing to his family members, including brother and CNN news anchor Chris Cuomo. | | | | | | | Support our journalism | | Reader contributions help keep Vox and newsletters like Sentences free for all. Support our work from as little as $3. | | | | | | | | | | "The pressure that we are going to put on Sinema and Manchin is calling [the filibuster] racist and saying that they are, in effect, supporting racism. Why would they be wedded to something that has those results? Their voters need to know that." | | | | | | | | | | |
Aarti Shahani, NPR journalist and host of the WBEZ podcast Art of Power, talks with investigative journalist and author Alfredo Corchado about the US-Mexico border. Corchado, a former child farmworker and a Mexican-American with identities on both sides of the border wall, discusses the reality, politics, history, and future of the border. [Spotify / Aarti Shahani] | | | | | | | | |  | This email was sent to edwardlorilla1986.paxforex@blogger.com. Manage your email preferences, or unsubscribe to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
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