WASHINGTON — It’s hard to think of an issue that highlights how broken our government, politics and discourse have all become more than the issue of immigration.
Let us count the ways over the last 15 years:
- Multiple efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform (first in 2006-2007, then in 2013-2014) have failed.
- Donald Trump’s demand for a border wall led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
- And now an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has once again turned into a political football, with no obvious legislative solution in sight.
For all of the talk about the filibuster and the “scorched earth” that will occur if it’s eliminated, there’s been a problem bigger than mere Senate process.
Washington can’t solve — or now even work on — pressing problems related to our borders.
Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
14: The number of Republican senators who voted for the 2013 compromise comprehensive immigration bill.
5: The number of those Republican senators who remain in the Senate today (Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, John Hoeven, Lisa Murkowski and Marco Rubio.)
69,000: The number of Virginians on probation for felonies who have now been restored voting rights under a new policy by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
29,674,025: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 60,710 more than yesterday morning.)
539,330: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That’s 954 more than yesterday morning.)
110,737,856: Number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
11.3 percent: The share of Americans who are fully vaccinated.
43: The number of days left for Biden to reach his 100-day vaccination goal.
Tweet of the day
U.S. intel community confirms Russia interfered in 2020 election to help Trump
On Tuesday, the U.S. intelligence community released an unclassified report confirming:
- No foreign actor attempted to alter any “technical aspect” of the election, like ballots or results;
- The Russian government conducted a campaign to discredit Joe Biden and support Donald Trump (“A key element of Moscow's strategy this election cycle was its use of proxies linked to Russian intelligence to push influence narratives … to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration,” the report said);
- Iran carried out a campaign to hurt Trump, though not promote his rivals;
- And China refrained from interfering in the election, but NBC’s Ken Dilanian reports that one member of the U.S. intel community dissented from the finding “and argued that China did do some things online to hurt Trump.”
The White House goes green on St. Patrick’s Day
NBC’s Mike Memoli reports that the Biden White House today is going green — literally, folks, as the president likes to say.
Per Memoli, the presidential mansion's north facade “will be illuminated in green Wednesday evening in one of many tributes to Ireland planned on Biden's first St. Patrick's Day as president.”
More: “Covid-19 protocols are putting a damper on what would otherwise be a more robust celebration of St. Patrick's Day in the Biden White House. But officials say they're making the most of the holiday, nonetheless. In addition to lighting the White House green, they will dye both the North and South Lawn water fountains green, reprising Obama's tradition, which was an homage to Chicago.”
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
Biden made his most definitive comments to date on Andrew Cuomo, saying that he should resign if the harassment allegations against him are confirmed.
An AP analysis found that the rate of rejected mail-in ballots was actually down in 2020.
Democrats in both chambers are pushing Biden to take on student debt via executive order.
Some Republicans now say they dropped the ball on building opposition to the Covid-19 relief bill.
Rick Scott says red state governors should return stimulus money. The governor of his own state says that “doesn’t make any sense.”
After Gavin Newsom spoke publicly about Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s potential replacement, she reiterated that she’s not planning on stepping down. (But here’s an interesting wrinkle: Her husband is interested in an ambassadorship, according to the New York Times.)
Newsom says he’s ready to fight the recall effort and acknowledged that its proponents probably have the signatures they need to launch it.
Former Rep. Doug Ose is in for the California recall race.
Check out this New York Times project looking at political segregation even at the neighborhood level in American cities.
