OnPolitics: How Biden is erasing Trump’s immigration legacy

Darwin Micheal Mejia and his mother Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia are reunited on June 22, 2018 in Linthicum, Md., after they were separated at the border and she sued the U.S. government. (Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP)

It’s a new week, a new month and we might have a new attorney general soon. We’ve got a lot to cover this Monday.

Over the weekend:

  • Former President Donald Trump re-entered the political scene at CPAC this past weekend.
  • President Joe Biden came out in support of Amazon workers wanting to unionize in Alabama.
  • New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing calls to resign over sexual harassment allegations. 

It’s Mabinty, with the day’s top news. Let’s dive in. 

Migrant families at the border may be reunited 

It looks like Biden isn’t quite done yet undoing the Trump administration’s legacy. 

Parents who were separated from their children at the border under the last administration could be allowed to live in the United States after they’re reunited, the Biden administration announced Monday. 

“We are hoping to reunite the families either here or in the country of origin,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the White House news briefing.

That’s not all: Biden has also promised better relations with Mexico. Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López is expected to talk to Biden about a “Bracero”-style labor program that would allow Mexicans to temporarily live in the U.S.

  • Lawmakers and White House officials previously unveiled sweeping immigration legislation, including a proposal for a path to citizenship for roughly 11 million migrants living without legal status in the USA.

The battle over the ballot goes before SCOTUS (again) 

Five years after Arizona criminalized what critics call “ballot harvesting,” and four months after a presidential election in which the practice was bitterly debated, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a pair of cases that will determine when states may limit voting and, potentially, whether a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act will stand.

What’s at stake: Twenty-six states allow voters to designate a third party to turn in their ballots, though 12 of those states limit how many ballots a person may collect, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ten states allow family members or caregivers to return ballots but not third-party groups such as Mi Familia Vota.

What critics say: They see a potential for ballot tampering and voter intimidation and point to a bipartisan report in 2005 in which former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker recommended prohibiting it. 

The outcome of the dispute before the justices could have far-reaching implications for the ability to challenge other controversial election laws, including voter ID requirements, that critics say have a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino voters.

What else is going on? 

  • White House criticized for not directly sanctioning Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman for role in Khashoggi murder
  • Vaccination sites getting new Johnson & Johnson vaccineas early as Tuesday, says White House
  • Virginia set to be first Southern state to legalize recreational marijuana; critics say the bill falls short on racial justice

I hope this March won’t bring tons of madness on us! —Mabinty 

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