VOLUME 8 ISSUE 10
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2023
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BRIEF this week
Biden sending 1,500 troops for Mexico border surge Washington, D.C. The Biden administration will send 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border starting next week, ahead of an expected migrant surge following the end of coronavirus pandemic-era restrictions. Military personnel will do data entry, warehouse support and other administrative tasks so that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can focus on fieldwork, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. The troops “will not be performing law enforcement functions or interacting with immigrants, or migrants,” Jean-Pierre said. “This will free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties.” They will be deployed for 90 days, and will be pulled from the Army and Marine Corps, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will look to backfill with National Guard or Reserve troops during that period, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. Even amid the restrictions, the administration has seen record numbers of people crossing the border.
AP DILLON | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
The chamber of the N.C. House of Representatives is shown during a recess at the General Assembly in Raleigh.
House bill would create academic standards commission
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Supreme Court to decide important case on government power Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether to jettison a decadesold decision that has been a frequent target of conservatives and, if overruled, could make it harder to sustain governmental regulations. The justices agreed to hear an appeal that takes aim at a 1984 case known as Chevron. It involves the Chevron oil company and says that when laws aren’t crystal clear, federal agencies should be allowed to fill in the details. The court’s conservative majority already has been reining in federal regulators, including in last June’s decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Chevron has been one of the most frequently cited high-court cases and a decision limiting its reach or overturning it altogether could dramatically limit the discretion of federal officials to regulate in a wide range of American life. The court is expected to hear the case in its fall term. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
McCarthy: Russia must pull out of Ukraine Jerusalem House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday said Russia must pull out of Ukraine, blistering Russia’s “killing of the children” in his first trip abroad as speaker. In Israel, McCarthy emphatically stressed his support for Ukraine and rejected a suggestion that he does not support sending military and financial aid to Kyiv. “I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine, I do not support your killing of the children either,” McCarthy told a Russian reporter, adding. “You should pull out.” McCarthy touched down in Jerusalem leading a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, his first foray abroad as the new House speaker and the first to address the Israeli Knesset in 25 years. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Bill comes after state board passed controversial social studies revisions
House bill would tighten laws on adult entertainment; Senate passes similar measure Drag shows might be included under “male or female impersonators” in the bill By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A bill filed in the House of the North Carolina General Assembly wants to tighten up laws pertaining to adult entertainment. House Bill 673, Clarifying regulations on Adult Entertainment, was filed on April 19 by Reps. Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth). Mark Pless (R-Haywood), Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston), and Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth).
The bill would place restrictions on certain adult live entertainment defined in the bill as performances by “topless dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration.” The bill would make it unlawful to hold such a live performance in the presence of an individual under the age of 18 and persons engaging in such act would be guilty of a Class 15 A1 misdemeanor for the first offense. Any additional offenses by the same person or persons would be See ADULT, page A2
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A bill filed in the North Carolina House would alter the way academic standards are created and maintained by creating a new advisory commission. House Bill 756, titled “Standards Advisory Commission,” was filed by primary sponsors Reps. John Torbett (R-Gaston), Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth), and Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke). The bill, filed on April 19, already received a favorable report from the House K-12 Committee during its April 25 meeting and was referred to the House Operations and Rules Committee. The bill amends the statutes related to the N.C. State Board of Education’s powers in developing academic standards and the course of study for K-12 students and creates a Standard Course of Study Advisory Commission that will recommend academic standards to the board. Under current law, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is the body responsible for recommending standards for the state’s Standard Course of Study. After receiving NCDPI’s recommendations, the state
board either rejects or adopts the proposals. Under the proposed legislation, the commission would consist of the superintendent of public instruction and 16 members appointed by the General Assembly; 8 recommended by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and 8 recommended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The governor would have no appointee on the commission. The General Assembly’s appointments would be subject to various categorical requirements. Additional nonvoting members would include the President of the North Carolina Community College System, the President of The University of North Carolina, and the President of the North Carolina Chamber. Members of the Commission would serve four-year terms beginning on July 1 and no member may serve more than 8 consecutive years. Vacancies would be filled by the General Assembly and the Commission would be located administratively within NCDPI but would be independent of that agency. The commission’s duties would include surveying parents, teachers, and the public to examine the usefulness of standards and seek academic priorities. A review of standards would See BILL, page A3
Texas border city struggles with large arrival of migrants The Associated Press BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Shelters in a Texas city struggled to find space for migrants who authorities say have abruptly begun crossing by the thousands from Mexico, testing a stretch of the U.S. border that is typically equipped to handle large groups of people fleeing poverty and violence. The pace of arrivals in Brownsville appeared to catch the city on the southernmost tip of Texas off guard, stretching social services and putting an overnight shelter in an uncommon position of turning people away. Officials say more than 15,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have illegally crossed the river near Brownsville since last week. That is a sharp rise from the 1,700 migrants that Border Patrol agents encountered in the first two weeks of April, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
“It’s a quite concerning because the logistical challenge that we encounter is massive for us,” said Gloria Chavez, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector. Chavez said migrants have been frustrated by relying on a glitchplagued government app that can allow them to seek asylum at a port of entry. Some migrants who crossed this week cited other motivators, including cartel threats that immediately preceded the sudden increment. The uptick comes as the Biden administration plans for the end of pandemic-era asylum restrictions. U.S. authorities have said daily illegal crossings from Mexico could climb as high as 13,000 from about 5,200 in March. Other cities — some far away from the southern U.S. border — are also grappling with suddenly large influxes of migrants. In Chicago, authorities reported this week a tenfold increase in the arrival of migrants in the city, where
as many as 100 migrants have begun arriving daily and begun sheltering in police stations. Brownsville is across the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico, where a sprawling encampment of makeshift tents has housed about 2,000 people waiting to enter the U.S. Last week, some tents were set ablaze and destroyed. Some migrants have said cartel-backed gangs were responsible, but a government official suggested the fires could have been set by a group of migrants frustrated over their long wait. “It was desperation, the cartel,” said Roxana Aguirre, 24, a Venezuelan migrant who sat outside a Brownsville bus station. “You couldn’t be on the street without looking over your shoulder.” In downtown Brownsville, families from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and China walked aimlessly, carrying their belongings and talking See BORDER, page A2