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Less than one year into his first term, President Joe Biden has so far disappointed one significant part of the Democratic base: immigration advocates.

As Nicole Narea explained for Vox, Biden hasnt rolled back even some of the most criticized policies carried out by former President Donald Trump. And its clear Biden hasnt prioritized immigration reform broadly, with Covid-19, the economy, and climate change all taking priority. Even as some Democrats tried, in a long-shot effort, to get immigration reform into the infrastructure and Build Back Better bills, Biden has mostly left the issue to Congress to work out.

As disappointing as this is to some progressives, theres a political calculation behind Bidens moves: The research suggests that immigration leads to a potentially huge political backlash, and Biden might have decided that neglecting immigration is the price he has to pay to try to get the rest of his agenda done.

A recent review of the evidence by Alberto Alesina and Marco Tabellini found that immigrants often, but not always, trigger backlash, increasing support for anti-immigrant parties and lowering preferences for redistribution and diversity among natives. The shift, the study concluded, seems to arise as a result of cultural, rather than economic, backlash.

Another recent study, from Christopher Claassen and Lauren McLaren, focused on immigration in European countries. They found public backlash in the short to medium run, where mood turns negative and concern about immigration rises.

But there was some good news for immigration advocates: As people get used to immigrants, the backlash seems to fade over one to three decades.

Of course, that good news is of little interest to Biden and the current Democratic Party. Theyre interested in the next year, with the 2022 midterm elections in front of mind. And even the more optimistic study finds a public backlash in the short and medium term.

You dont really need studies to see this in the real world, especially in recent years. Trumps rise in 2016 was built on concerns about immigration. And as the evidence indicates, that backlash was largely cultural in nature thats what the warning of taco trucks [on] every corner was all about.

But its not just the US. As Europe dealt with a large influx of refugees in recent years, far-right politicians managed to take advantage of the situation to build power. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed 1 million refugees into the country, the far-right AfD won enough seats to become the largest opposition party in the countrys legislature. Things ultimately worked out for Merkel and Germany, but notably only after she took steps to stop the flow of refugees and adopted some hardline rhetoric about immigration going as far as declaring, Multiculturalism is a sham.

That suggests an uncomfortable possibility for many progressives: Backlash to immigration seems like a staple of most modern Western democracies.

For Democrats, this conclusion means uncomfortable questions: Is action on immigration now really worth the return of Trump or the rise of other Trump-like figures over the next two or four years? If that backlash leads to Republicans in power, would immigration reform mean less action on a host of other issues, from health care to climate change? And would immigration reform simply be repealed in that backlash scenario anyway?

This has already led some progressive leaders around the world, from Denmark to New Zealand, to take a tough stance on immigration. They appear to have decided that sacrificing one cause is worth carrying out other priorities.

The Biden administration isnt quite into tough on immigration territory yet. But hes working within a framework in which immigration has to be treated cautiously, as he tries to balance his whole agenda with campaign promises about a very divisive, volatile issue.

A recent analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation confirmed theres still a lot of misinformation about Covid-19 and the vaccines out there.

A team led by Liz Hamel surveyed Americans on their views about the coronavirus. They found that 78 percent of adults in the US have heard at least one false statement about Covid-19 (of eight surveyed) and either believe it or dont know if its true or false.

The researchers also found that the news sources people relied on correlated with their Covid-19 beliefs. The share who hold at least four misconceptions is small (between 11-16%) among those who say they trust COVID-19 information from network news, local TV news, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, they wrote. This share rises to nearly four in ten among those who trust COVID-19 information from One America News (37%) and Fox News (36%), and to nearly half (46%) among those who trust information from Newsmax.

Its not clear if right-wing media sources are fueling the misconceptions, or if people who already believe the misinformation are more likely to go to right-wing media for their news, the researchers noted.

But right-wing media, its safe to say, isnt helping with Fox News segments, for example, baselessly questioning the efficacy and safety of the Covid-19 vaccines on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, its not clear what the solutions to all of this are. Officials across the country, including some Republicans, have spent much of the past two years trying to counter Covid-related misinformation. Yet those efforts have clearly struggled as shown by Kaisers findings.

See more here:
Why Biden has disappointed on immigration reform - Vox.com

FILE - A woman seeking asylum in the United States waits with others for news of policy changes, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. On Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, the Biden administration launched a second bid to end a Trump-era policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

PHOENIX U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said she supports adding protections for undocumented immigrants to the federal spending bill but has some reservations.

I do support the immigration proposals that are being offered in the upcoming reconciliation package, Sinema, a Democrat, said during a call with Arizona reporters Monday.

I also recognize that there are legal limitations to what can be done in a reconciliation package.

She explained shes waiting to see what immigration policies can be included in the bill according to the Senate parliamentarian, who has rejected two plans already, including a path to legalization for some undocumented immigrants.

Sinema said she does anticipate the Senate will abide by the parliamentarians decision despite calls from immigration advocates to disregard it.

But to be clear, Arizonans know I do support a comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for individuals who are Americans in everything but name, Sinema added.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives are considering adding to the reconciliation bill a five-year parole that would allow some undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the U.S.

The protection would be renewable for another five years.

It has the support of Bob Worsley, a former Republican state senator from Mesa and co-chair of the American Business Immigration Coalition.

We think thats at least a way for this group of people who are here without documents to have some legal status and to come out of the shadows, he said.

Worsley said an estimated 7 million immigrants would benefit from the parole and could immediately work legally.

He noted with more than 10 million job openings across the country, this could help address the current labor shortage.

Some of them are already working in the fields, hotels, restaurants and construction sites, Worsley said. But employers are taking risks of not having them be legal, and this would take that risk away.

Worsley, who founded specialty publishing company SkyMall, added he supports a comprehensive immigration reform that paves a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants, especially young dreamers brought to the country as children. But he said it would be hard to pass in Congress right now because of Republican opposition.

Well take what we can get, he said. Were pragmatists.

She told reporters during Mondays call that shes working with Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas to come up with bipartisan legislation that addresses part but not all of the immigration crisis that we face.

Her office told KTAR News 92.3 FM those efforts are separate from her support for a path to citizenship.

Its been over 30 years since Congress has effectively addressed the immigration crisis, and we in Arizona have been paying the price for it during those 30 plus years, she said.

So it is past time for Congress to take action.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

See more here:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema supports adding immigration policies to spending bill - KTAR.com

Nov. 15Consuelo Nieto didn't leave her home country so much as she brought it with her when she moved to the United States.

The founder of at least one of Bakersfield folkloric dance troupes and a singer in a local mariachi band, Nieto made sure local youth of Mexican heritage learned about the the deep roots of their Hispanic culture.

"Connie was always very proud of her culture, her heritage," said Erlinda Manzano, whose mother, newspaper publisher Esther H. Manzano, was a friend of Nieto's.

But Nieto didn't stop there. She often helped other immigrants like her by pushing for immigration reform, attending conventions and even decorating cakes bearing the logo of the Mexican American Political Association, in which she had become involved. As a day job, she helped others file paperwork legitimizing their residency in the United States.

Nieto died Nov. 8 at the age of 79. The cause of her death was not available.

She is remembered as a woman who gave generously of her time to help others new to the country. Well known within the local Hispanic community, Nieto was active in the early days of the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"She was a good member to help us through all the stumbling blocks and roadblocks," said Manuel G. Lerma, one of the chamber's founding members. "If you asked her to do something, she helped you out."

But it was in cultural representation that Nieto shone brightest. She loved to sing and dance, and that came through when she worked with young people.

She took her folkloric groups to schools as a way of introducing students to Mexican art and culture, and would help raise money to buy the pricey costumes the dances require.

Nieto also made a name for herself as a cake decorator, as well as a mariachi singer at a time women weren't often known for doing that.

Those who knew her well remember her as a charming person with a great sense of humor.

"She was a real caring person, very personal," Lerma said. "She got along with everyone."

Story continues

Born July 20, 1942, in Leon, Guanajuato the younger sister of two brothers, Nieto gained U.S. citizenship in her early 20s. Settling in Bakersfield, she made a career at the Kern County Economic Opportunity Corp., where she worked as an immigration specialist. As a volunteer, she helped local attorneys who served the less fortunate.

Preceded in death by her husband, Richard Nieto Sr., and by her brothers Ralph and Jose Bermudez, she is survived by her three children, Nancy Kay Morales, Richard Nieto Jr. and Patricia Ann Chamberlin; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A viewing has been scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Thursday, with a 7 p.m. Rosary, at Kern River Family Mortuary. A memorial service and Mass is set for noon Friday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1515 Baker St., to be followed immediately by a 1 p.m. graveside service at Greenlawn Funeral Home Northeast, 3700 River Blvd. There will be a celebration of life event after the graveside service at Druids Lodge, 501 Sumner St.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking people donate in her honor to the Leukemia Research Foundation.

See the original post here:
Consuelo Bermudez Nieto (1942-2021): Immigrant spread cultural understanding, helped others new to the country - Yahoo News

BYRON YORK| Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

In the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump's highest-profile promise was to build the wall that is, to construct a barrier along about 1,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Once elected, Trump's best chance to win money from Congress for a wall came in 2018, when Republican Speaker Paul Ryan controlled the House and Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell controlled the Senate.

It didn't happen.

Now, one of Trump's strongest supporters on Capitol Hill, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, is out with a new memoir, "Do What You Said You Would Do," on Nov. 23 that describes those months when GOP lawmakers fought over competing visions of immigration reform.

The battle was intense, it was passionate and it came to nothing. No stricter immigration laws were passed, and there was no significant funding for a wall. For that failure, Jordan points the finger of blame straight at then-Speaker Ryan. "Paul Ryan is not where the American people are," Jordan writes. "Paul Ryan's position on immigration is the same as the positions of the National Chamber of Commerce."

In the world of conservative immigration policy activists, accusing someone of siding with the Chamber of Commerce is about as harsh as it gets. As Jordan tells it, Ryan sabotaged Republican immigration reform by refusing to support a bill that the large majority of Republicans supported, instead pushing a weaker bill that the Chamber supported.

The result was that, facing united Democratic opposition, neither Republican bill passed. The bill promoted by Jordan and his colleagues in the House Freedom Caucus would have "ended family-based chain migration apart from spouses and children," Jordan writes. "It contained mandatory E-Verify language for employers and eliminated the visa lottery ... [it] also defunded sanctuary cities and appropriated $30 billion for construction of the wall."

The bill, Jordan argues, "was consistent with the message of the 2016 election." The bill supported by Ryan would also have funded the wall, albeit with $25 billion. "But it did nothing else to address the problems we were elected to solve," Jordan writes. "It had no language to address chain migration, E-Verify or sanctuary cities ... [It] also created a renewable six-year legal status for up to 2.4 million illegal immigrants and gave those individuals a path to legal citizenship."

Finally, while the bill ended the visa lottery, it "reallocated those visas to amnesty recipients." "Which bill do you think Speaker Ryan supported?" Jordan asks. "You already know the answer." Ryan, Jordan charges, did not want to allow the House to vote on the Freedom Caucus bill. He did so only after the group threatened to sink a big, must-pass farm bill if they didn't get a vote on immigration.

And then, the speaker declined to put pressure on -- or whip, as they say on Capitol Hill -- any Republicans to vote for it. And still, the conservative bill got 193 votes -- a solid majority of the 241 Republicans in the House at that time. Ryan did push for the other bill -- what Jordan calls the Chamber of Commerce bill -- but in the end it got only 121 votes.

"Why push for a bill that was 100 votes short of passing instead of a bill that got 193 votes and therefore was just a few votes shy of passing?" Jordan asks. "You already know why. Paul Ryan doesn't want the legislation President Trump and the American people supported."

The Jordan-Ryan clash was a classic Republican immigration debate. While Democrats are virtually unanimous in support of amnesty and more liberal immigration laws, the GOP is divided between a conservative faction, which favors more restrictive measures, and a business-oriented faction, which favors less restrictive measures and higher levels of immigration.

Trump's border wall proposal ran straight into that preexisting conflict. In the end, Trump found other ways to build some of the wall. By the time he left office and President Biden stopped construction, about 450 miles had been built, most of it replacing existing but dilapidated older barriers.

The Republican Congress' failure to fund a wall has had real-life consequences, most recently in the crisis in Del Rio, Texas, when 15,000 illegal border crossers waded across the Rio Grande and created a squalid migrant camp just inside the United States. The Biden administration allowed thousands of them to stay. It was a crisis that is sure to be repeated, probably in the near future.

But the story might have been different had Republicans not been so divided in that 2018 debate.

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION FOR UFS 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO

Continued here:
York: The GOP fight that stopped Trump's immigration plan - LubbockOnline.com

Inflation is hammering restaurants, dismantling the industrys fragile recovery from pandemic-induced shutdowns just as customers resume dining out.

The price of produce, meat, oils and even non-food items like heat lamps and to-go containers has skyrocketed, saddling restaurants with unprecedented costs. And supply chain disruptions are making it difficult for smaller, independent restaurants to secure essential products in the first place.

Surging prices and scarcity of goods coming on top of severe workforce shortages and relatively weak demand for dining-out has left restaurant groups appealing to Congress for help, warning of further negative impacts without another round of federal relief.

The U.S. experienced the highest rate of inflation in three decades over the last year, according to Labor Department data released last week. The price of groceries rose by 5.4 percent year-over-year, with the largest increase 11.9 percent coming among meats, poultry, fish and eggs.

Restaurant owners say theyre dealing with even larger increases for some wholesale products in recent months, costs that are passed on to customers. Prices at full-service restaurants rose by 5.9 percent over last year, the largest annual increase on record.

Its not like prices are going up a little bit. Some products are 50 percent higher than usual. Its bananas, said Regina Simmons, owner of Tacotarian, a Las Vegas-based vegan Mexican restaurant.

Simmons pays the highest possible price to ensure she gets a specific vegan cheese that is in short supply, as she cannot easily substitute it without customers noticing the difference. Price hikes and supply shortages also apply to cups, napkins and other essential products.

Every week, a delivery truck arrives stocked with only some of the items Simmons ordered, forcing her to get in her car and search for the missing products at grocery stores like Whole Foods, where she pays even higher prices.

Theres a lot of problems right now because theres not enough products for everyone, she said. Its a very challenging time for our industry.

Tyler Akin, a Philadelphia restaurant owner and board member for the Independent Restaurant Coalition, said that the price of food and equipment continues to rise across the board.

Fryer oil that cost around $30 per unit a year ago now runs for $60 to $70, and the cost of disposable gloves is up 200 percent from pre-pandemic levels, he said. Even surging energy prices are hitting restaurants that invested in propane heaters to facilitate outdoor dining.

In a year of historic headwinds, its really the icing on the cake, said Akin, who was forced to close one of his restaurants and is not operating two others located near office buildings due to a lack of demand.

For independent restaurant owners, the pandemic has tested their relationships with distributors and revealed just how difficult it is to compete with large chains, which often get priority on scarce products.

None of us are acquiring farms and meat producers like larger corporations are able to, Akin said. For us, the cost is presented and we take it or leave it.

A National Restaurant Association survey in September found that 91 percent of restaurant owners are paying more for food. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they had to change a menu item because they werent able to find an ingredient. And 47 percent said they had difficulty obtaining poultry while 45 percent had trouble finding beef.

Its very difficult for operators to plan with prices varying so much and supplies not showing up, said Mike Whatley, vice president for state affairs and grassroots advocacy at the trade group. You cant control if the truck shows up and doesnt have salmon. It just adds to so many more issues.

The industry group estimates that restaurants lost $300 billion in sales since the beginning of the pandemic and 90,000 restaurants closed their doors permanently or long-term. Demand is recovering, but 78 percent of restaurants say they dont have enough employees to support a recent uptick in customers amid a tight labor market.

Restaurants were only just barely beginning to recover, then you have the delta variant, you throw in supply chain issues, inflation, worker shortages, and its a perfect storm in terms of stalling the industrys recovery and putting it in reverse, Whatley said.

The National Restaurant Association sent a letter to President BidenJoe BidenBiden restates commitment to 'one China' policy on Taiwan in call with Xi Biden raises human rights with China's Xi during four hour meeting Biden, Xi hold 'candid' discussion amid high tensions MORE earlier this month urging his administration to push for immigration reform and expand employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to combat the worker shortage.

Restaurant groups are also pressing for last-minute additions to Democrats $1.75 trillion climate and social spending bill, lobbying for additional relief for restaurants to be included.

The bill, which Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiChristie: Trump rhetoric about stolen election led to Jan. 6 attack Biden signs trillion infrastructure bill into law Defiant Bannon warns of 'misdemeanor from hell' for Biden MORE (D-Calif.) wants to pass this week, is likely the industrys last chance to receive more federal aid this year, though its current draft does not include support for restaurants.

Congress provided a $28.6 billion cash infusion to ailing restaurants as part of a Restaurant Revitalization Fund included in Democrats COVID-19 stimulus package enacted earlier this year. But the fund quickly ran dry, with two-thirds of restaurants that applied for aid ultimately missing out.

You always hope that elected leaders can sense reality and have a sense of empathy and are compelled to do the right thing, Akin said. But Im not really seeing it right now.

Original post:
Rising costs threaten restaurants' recovery | TheHill - The Hill