Nineteen Republican-led states won a temporary stay to keep Title 42 from ending tomorrow. But the move doesn’t mean the Trump-era pandemic-related rule, which allows the U.S. government to quickly expel asylum seekers without giving them a hearing, stays in place long-term.
Thousands of migrants are arriving in border towns each day, overwhelming shelters and support systems. The Biden administration is scrambling to send support to border cities like El Paso, which declared a state of emergency in response.
Other cities that receive the migrants once they are bused out of the border towns also are asking for emergency help. New York City, for example, expects more people needing shelter as a strong winter storm with extreme cold temperatures will pack available shelter spaces this week. The city expects about 1,000 new migrants to arrive each week if and when Title 42 eventually expires.
Title 42 was passed as a way to control COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. The name of the order, Title 42, is a clause of the 1944 Public Health Services Law that “allows the government to prevent the introduction of individuals during certain public health emergencies.”
It is especially noteworthy that states like Texas, which opposed federal government involvement in matters having to do with controlling the pandemic, are now asking for Title 42 to be extended. And critics say there is nothing rational about claiming that migrants pose a health threat now that all U.S. borders are open to travelers without any requirements that they are tested or vaccinated.
It is unclear if the administration has the authority to extend Title 42.
Officials have been weighing policies to try to stem the flow of migrants heading to the US southern border. Among them is a proposal that would bar migrants from seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border if they could have received refuge in another country they passed through, mirroring Trump-era asylum limits. The proposal is being finalized and is expected to be announced this week prior to the lifting of Title 42.
The new rules are likely to generate outcry and legal challenges from immigration advocates, who have pushed for an end to Title 42. Enacting a version of a Trump-era asylum rule could also pose political challenges for Biden, who vowed to enact a more humane immigration policy than his predecessor.
The American Immigration Council explains that Title 42 may be responsible for increased migrant crossings long before last week when the latest surge began:
The United States has long guaranteed the right to seek asylum to individuals who arrive at our southern border and ask for protection. But since March 20, 2020, that fundamental right has been largely suspended. Beginning on that date, both migrants seeking a better life in the United States and those wanting to apply for asylum have been turned away and “expelled” back to Mexico or their home countries. These border expulsions are carried out under a little-known provision of U.S. health law—section 265 of Title 42—which the former Trump administration invoked to achieve its long-desired goal of shutting the border to asylum seekers. Over 1.8 million expulsions under Title 42 have been carried out since the pandemic began. However, nearly half of those expulsions were of the same people being apprehended and expelled back to Mexico multiple times. This is because Title 42 has led to a significant increase in repeat crossings at the border. Half of all single adults from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador who have been expelled to Mexico under Title 42 have been apprehended crossing the border again. As a result, Title 42 has significantly increased overall border crossings. In fact, 1 in 3 apprehensions since Title 42 expulsions began have been of a person on at least their second attempt to cross the border.
Sky-high diesel prices are falling, but they’re still higher than a year ago
Diesel fuel powers trucks, ships, busses, trains and tractors, and while the price is falling, it still costs more than $1.10 a gallon more than a year ago. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the average price is $4.754 per gallon.
That’s the good news. Here is the concerning news. This week’s cold weather means people, especially in the Northeast, will be using more heating oil, which is similar to diesel fuel.
Then again there is a bit of better news. A couple of months ago, alarmists (think Tucker Carlson) were saying Americans were about to run out of diesel. That didn’t happen and diesel inventories are growing and now stand at a 31-day supply, which that if everything shut down today, we would have a month’s supply in reserve. Every day we use fuel and replenish it. The growing supply is one reason prices have declined for several weeks in a row.
But then again, there is some concerning news. America used to get some of its diesel from Europe, but Russia is not exporting diesel to the West right now and the rest of Europe needs what it produces. That, plus seasonal oil facility maintenance, contributed to the lower inventories of diesel that at one point dipped to a 25-day supply. But look at the U.S. Department of Energy’s short-term forecast for diesel prices into next year and you will see they are not forecasted to drop a lot more. Even at midyear, the Energy Department estimates the price will be above $4 per gallon.
(U.S. Department of Energy)
I have seen stories like this one out of Alabama where school systems are combing bus routes and charging athletic programs more because it costs so much more to run diesel-fueled school buses. Diesel is the most commonly fuel used in school buses. Some are switching to propane. Electric buses are about double to triple the cost of diesel. But some school districts are taking a long view of their expenses and are leaning into electric buses that might prove to be a better value over time. (CNBC has more about the move to electric school buses.)
But, then again, more good news for gasoline users: When refineries are producing as much diesel as they can, they also produce more gasoline which drives the gas prices down. Investing.com explains why:
Only part of a barrel of oil can be used for distillates (diesel and heating oil are both types of distillates). The rest must be used for other fuels and products, such as gasoline. If refineries continue to produce high rates of diesel, gasoline prices should continue to drop because the supply of gasoline is growing.
High prices = increased diesel thefts
Whenever anything gets as costly as diesel fuel is now, it attracts thieves. Look at this story about a farmer in South Dakota who found that somebody had drilled a hole in his fuel tank and drained it of 100 gallons ($500 worth) of fuel. Thieves made off with 4,200 gallons of diesel in Tennessee by hitting the same gas station over and over. The same thing happened in Utah where a guy stole 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
In Florida, thieves broke into diesel fuel pumps to make it appear that far less fuel was being pumped into tanks than actually was. The thieves were stealing so much that they sold it to truckers or, in some cases, drove off only to come back around to sell the fuel to suppliers. Now they face racketeering charges.
News6 in Orlando explains that the bad guys used a “pulsar” device powered by a couple of nine-volt batteries to pay five cents a gallon for $5-a-gallon diesel. The TV station said federal officials are looking into at least 50 cases of pulsar devices being used. The investigators said one device, which might cost $40 to make, could be used to steal $2 million to $3 million worth of fuel per year.
Why is there a shortage of large-animal vets? Blame the pandemic
NPR says America’s shortage of veterinarians who treat big animals, such as livestock, is at an all-time high and that there could be implications not only for the animals but for the food chain as well:
For decades, farmers have endured a shortage of rural veterinarians – the kind who specialize in care for animals like cows, pigs and sheep. But the problem is now at an all-time high – with 500 counties across 46 states reporting critical shortages this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We are losing animals because we just have no one to come to the farm in time to save them,” said Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in a Dec. 6 hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. “We have counties in Mississippi that don’t even have a large animal veterinarian.”
The shortage is mirrored by a growth in the number of veterinarians that Americans are much more familiar with – those who take care of the family pet. Since at least the early 2000s, more veterinarians have chosen the better pay and more reasonable work hours that go with a practice that focuses primarily or exclusively on “companion” animals. With the COVID-19 pandemic-driven spike in pet ownership, demand – and salaries – for companion animal veterinarians have increased rapidly, according to the American Veterinary Medicine Association, or AVMA.
The implications of this shortfall go beyond the farm. Some farmers and the AVMA warn that without enough vets on the front line, the food supply chain is vulnerable to diseases such as foot and mouth and swine flu.
What media executives predict for 2023
CNBC published a list of big predictions for media in 2023 including:
- Netflix will merge with somebody
- Bezos will sell the Washington Post
- Apple will ban TikTok from the Apple store
- Cable cord-cutting will continue while streaming accelerates
- Even if there is a recession, advertising will rebound faster than you might think
