
Biden administration weighs making it harder to end asylum crackdown at border
CBSN
The Biden administration is debating changes that would make it harder to lift the sweeping asylum restrictions it enacted in June, drafting plans to alter the criteria that would be used to deactivate the strict border measure, two Department of Homeland Security officials told CBS News.
The proposed changes concern a proclamation issued in early June by President Biden that has effectively shut down access to the American asylum system for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Officials have credited the crackdown, the most restrictive asylum policy by a Democratic president, for a four-year-low in unauthorized border crossings.
Mr. Biden's asylum ban included a deactivation trigger, in which the policy would be discontinued if the seven-day average of daily illegal border crossings fell below 1,500. Under the proposed changes, the asylum restrictions would only be deactivated if the seven-day average of unlawful border crossings stay below 1,500 for 28 days, the DHS officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

After years of unsuccessful attempts to finance and build a public alarm network that would warn residents of Kerr County, Texas, about dangerous flooding, officials in the region, nicknamed "flash flood alley," were going to start developing a centralized flood monitoring system this summer to help leaders and emergency managers plan ahead.

Washington — The Senate is expected to vote next week on a request from the White House to claw back funding for international aid and public broadcasting. But the funding for rural radio and television stations — sometimes an area's sole source for emergency warnings and other news — has sparked concern among some Senate Republicans, especially after the recent devastating flash floods in Texas.