Residents and activists say no one is safe if law allowing police to arrest people for suspected illegal entry goes into effect

At the Sweet Co coffee shop in downtown Brownsville, the last city at the eastern end of the Texas border before you reach the ocean and Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket base or cross into Mexico, the vibe was chill but the mood was chilly.

Customers were as downcast as the wet weather outside on Wednesday, the day of a court hearing after contrasting legal rulings were made about a new law that will affect people in Brownsville, whether new migrants, US citizens, undocumented residents or others.

Continue reading...

Appeals court blocks sweeping arrest powers for Texas police, ending – for now – what could have sparked confusion along US border

Good morning, US politics blog readers. It was only a few hours ago when the supreme court cleared the way for a potential upending of US immigration enforcement by allowing a Texas law that gave state police the power to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally to go into effect. But hours after the top court’s Tuesday afternoon order, a federal appeals court once again blocked the law – at least for now. The decision prevents what could have become a confusing and unprecedented situation from playing out in the massive, Republican-governed state along the border with Mexico. Texas’s police would have been able to arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally – a task reserved for federal law enforcement.

Texas enacted its law as Republicans nationwide attack Joe Biden over the surge in undocumented migrants that has played out since he took office. In Congress, the GOP continues to demand the president support tougher border policies, though they blocked a compromise that would impose those and approve new aid for Ukraine and Israel. The White House views the Texas law as “harmful and unconstitutional”, and the legal wrangling over it is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Congress is working on a final batch of government spending bills ahead of a Friday deadline to pass them and prevent a partial government shutdown. Party leaders yesterday announced a deal on the funding, but it still needs to be approved by the full Senate and House of Representatives.

Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israeli prime minister, will reportedly address Senate Republicans at their lunch. Last week, the chamber’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer , called for new elections to be held.

The Federal Reserve will decide whether or not to keep interest rates at their high level when their regular policy meeting concludes at 2pm ET.

Continue reading...

Executives at Texas summit claim clean-energy transition is failing and say world should ‘abandon the fantasy’ of fossil-fuel phaseout

The bosses of the world’s leading oil and gas companies have poured scorn on efforts to move away from fossil fuels, complaining that a “visibly failing” transition to clean energy was being pushed forward at an “unrealistic pace”.

The oil executives, gathered at the industry’s annual Cera Week conference in Houston, Texas, have taken turns this week to denounce calls for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, despite widespread acknowledgment within the industry, as well as scientists and governments, of the need to radically reduce planet-heating emissions to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis.

Continue reading...

Move comes hours after supreme court allowed strict law known as SB4 to take effect, giving state police powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally

A federal appeals court has issued an order that prevents Texas from arresting migrants suspected of entering the US illegally, hours after the supreme court allowed the strict new immigration law to take effect.

The decision by the 5th US circuit court of appeals comes weeks after a panel on the same court cleared the way for Texas to enforce the law, known as SB4, by putting a pause on a lower judge’s injunction.

Continue reading...

Law allowing state authorities to arrest people suspected of crossing US-Mexico border can proceed pending court challenge

The US supreme court on Tuesday declined to block a Republican-backed Texas law allowing state law enforcement authorities to arrest people suspected of crossing the US-Mexico border illegally, rejecting a request by President Joe Biden’s administration.

The administration had asked the justices to freeze a judicial order allowing the Texas law to take effect while the US government’s challenge to the statute proceeds in the lower courts. The administration has argued that the law violates the US constitution and federal law by interfering with the US government’s power to regulate immigration.

Continue reading...

Incarcerated people often must drink unhealthy water, a particularly cruel – but not unusual – form of punishment

Russell Rowe spent almost two and a half years in Washington DC’s central detention facility, where rusty water flowed from taps in sinks that were connected to toilets. He remembers dawdling at the nurse’s station when it was time to take his meds, in hopes she’d give him an extra, tiny “portion” cup of water, the cup that often holds or accompanies pills.

“I was just in a state of constant dehydration,” he said. “My whole body felt different. I just didn’t feel well.”

Continue reading...

Polio survivor recognised as ‘longest iron lung patient’ after using one for 70 years became an inspirational figure

Paul Alexander, who lived much of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio at six years old, has died at the age of 78.

The Texas resident was paralysed from the neck down by the disease and went on to become an inspirational figure, graduating from law school, writing a memoir and painting using a brush that he held in his mouth.

Continue reading...

What has been the impact of the Smokehouse Creek fire in the Texas Panhandle, and what could happen now?

The Smokehouse Creek fire has so far scorched more than 1m acres – 1,600 sq miles – across the Texas Panhandle, as well as tens of thousands of acres in Oklahoma. It stretches over an area larger than Rhode Island, making it the largest ever wildfire in Texas, and the second-largest in US history, according to modern fire records.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden has promised a humane approach to migration at the border but struggled to deal with a surge in crossings; Donald Trump , however, has long promised to implement draconian policies

• ‘There is no crisis’: Biden will find calm not chaos at Texas border visit

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden and Donald Trump will both be in Texas today to visit the US border with Mexico, amid public frustration over undocumented migrants crossing into the country. The visits by the current and former president come after a bargain to implement hardline policies meant to keep migrants out coupled with new military aid to Ukraine and Israel fell apart in Congress, leaving the fate of these national security priorities uncertain. Yet all signs point to continued public anxiety about the state of the southern border – this week, Gallup released polling that showed immigration was the top problem on the public’s mind.

Trump has long promised to implement draconian policies against undocumented migrants, and did so during his presidency. Biden, meanwhile, promised a more humane approach, but struggled to deal with a surge in border crossings that began after he took office, and the Republican attacks that accompanied them. We’ll keep an eye out for what the two men may say when they arrive in Texas. The president gets there this afternoon.

Lloyd Austin , the defense secretary, will discuss the secrecy around his hospitalization during an appearance before the House armed services committee beginning at 10am ET.

The race to replace Mitch McConnell as the Senate’s top Republican will start heating up after he yesterday announced plans to step down. Reports say Trump’s allies would like a rightwing alternative to the three senators thought to be in the running – all of whom are named John.

The government probably will not shut down, after congressional leaders released a deal on funding yesterday. This afternoon, the House will vote on a short-term measure to keep the money flowing, while passage of the broader funding compromise is expected in the near future.

Continue reading...