🤫 Biden's migrant makeover

Plus: "Dark money" target | Monday, February 07, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Emergent BioSolutions   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Feb 07, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. The president drew a red line for the leader of Russia. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,045 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Scoop - Biden's migrant makeover Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   The Biden administration is poised to reshape the way the government tracks undocumented immigrants awaiting court proceedings, Axios' Stef Kight has learned. Why it matters: There are nearly 180,000 in the U.S. already being monitored with ankle bracelets and other traceable devices. The administration is planning an expanded home confinement and curfew pilot program — with the aim of curbing for-profit detention spaces. President Biden made ending for-profit detention a campaign promise. He hasn't fulfilled it yet, but Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently called detention reform a priority. It would surely face criticism from those on the right who think harsh detention policies are necessary to curb illegal immigration. A growing court backlog already means a years-long wait for immigrants in monitoring programs. Driving the news: The new pilot program will launch in Baltimore and Houston with a couple hundred immigrants in the coming weeks, according to a DHS official. A nationwide program is expected later this year. It will involve stricter monitoring than other alternative-to-detention (ATD) programs right now, but the specific requirements as to when someone must be at home could vary by case, Axios is told. What they're saying: "Alternative-to-detention [programs] are an effective method of tracking noncitizens released from CBP custody who are awaiting their immigration proceedings," a DHS spokesperson told Axios. "Those who do not report are subject to arrest and potential removal by ICE." Keep reading.     2. Conservatives' new "dark money" target President Biden watches as Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announces his retirement last month. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images   A leading conservative advocacy group's seven-figure effort to turn an obscure progressive consulting firm into the face of Democratic "dark money" is drawing legal threats from the firm's lawyers, Axios' Lachlan Markay has learned. Why it matters: The Judicial Crisis Network's $2.5 million ad campaign goes after Arabella Advisors in the context of President Biden's upcoming nomination to the Supreme Court. But it's part of a much larger effort on the right to make Arabella a household name. In private conversations with donors, GOP fundraisers are bringing up Arabella and its clients to warn of a flood of progressive funding they say is tilting the scales of national political contests. Publicly, conservatives have pointed to spending by Arabella and its clients to allege hypocrisy by Democrats who decry undisclosed political donors. Arabella describes the campaign as baseless and malicious. After it sent legal demands last week to stations airing the new ad, JCN revised the spot and began running a modified version. What they're saying: "Arabella Advisors is not the source of funding for any of these organizations, and we do not exert control over the spending decisions of our clients," a spokesperson told Axios. "The claims in this advertisement were false, and they deliberately mischaracterize the work of Arabella Advisors and several of our clients. Even JCN acknowledged this, that's why they changed their ad." Keep reading.     3. Electoral Count Act red lines Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   As bipartisan negotiations to update the Electoral Count Act of 1887 grow in breadth and intensity, senators from both parties are starting to draw their red lines. Why it matters: Democrats once fixated on sweeping election reform packages. Republicans were equally committed to opposing wide-ranging federal election changes. New drop-dead conditions can still poison the new negotiations but also indicate movement from these opening positions, Axios' Alayna Treene and Andrew Solender report. "The Republicans blocked us. So, now we're looking to see, can we offer some protection? Some is not as good as full protection, but it's better than nothing," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Axios. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) stressed during a joint CNN interview with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) yesterday that the group is taking a "Goldilocks approach" to "try to find what's just right." What we're hearing: Some Democrats say they want a rigorous amendment process to the bill in exchange for supporting changes to the ECA. "I'm thinking about the sort of floor amendments we might want, to make that a more robust bill," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told Axios. Meanwhile, Republicans are warning the legislation needs to be narrow. The bigger the bill, they say, the harder it will be to add and earn votes from GOP members who support it. "I think our best bet is the Electoral Count Act. Resolving that would be a show of good faith and an accomplishment," Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said. Keep reading.     A message from Emergent BioSolutions We Go to protect against public health threats     Emergent develops, manufactures and delivers protections against critical health threats — from fighting cholera and smallpox to counteracting opioid overdoses, and manufacturing vaccines and treatments that create a better, more secure world for us all. And that's why We Go.     4. Worthy of your time German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke in Washington to German media representatives before his Oval Office meeting and news conference with President Biden. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images   🏛 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Washington, D.C., will join the 50 states in having a second statue in the Capitol: Pierre L'Enfant, the engineer behind the layout of D.C. will join abolitionist Fredrick Douglass in the honor. "This unveiling is a continuation of the effort to secure equality for the nearly 700,000 Americans who live in D.C.," Pelosi said, Andrew writes in tonight's Sneak roundup. 😷 A group of six House Democrats, including several swing-district members, pressed the president to use domestic manufacturers to provide the free KN95 masks his administration is distributing — rather than getting them from foreign companies, according to a letter obtained by Axios' Sarah Mucha. The comment comes after the House passed a bill to boost U.S. manufacturing to compete with China, and after House Republicans complained about Congress allotting Chinese-made KN95 masks to House offices. 🗣 Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters he texted his niece Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, and "expressed my point of view" about the RNC's censure of Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). Romney blasted the censure publicly last week, tweeting, "Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol." 🇦🇺 Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Australia this evening, with stops on the way back in Fiji and Hawaii. While Down Under, he'll attend a meeting in Melbourne of the foreign ministers from the Quad — the United States, Australia, India and Japan. ⚓ Among the six appointments the president made to the U.S. Naval Academy's board of visitors are John S. McCain IV, the son of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, and Amy McGrath, the 2020 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. McCain served as a Navy helicopter pilot, and McGrath was a Marine fighter pilot and the first female Marine to fly a combat mission.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images   White House press secretary Jen Psaki flew the colors during her daily briefing, wearing a "United States Olympic Team" pin.     A message from Emergent BioSolutions We Go to protect against public health threats     Emergent develops, manufactures and delivers protections against critical health threats — from fighting cholera and smallpox to counteracting opioid overdoses, and manufacturing vaccines and treatments that create a better, more secure world for us all. And that's why We Go.   📬 Thanks for reading. A reminder your family, friends and colleagues can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? 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