Government medical advisers urge ICE to expand COVID-19 vaccinations for immigrant detainees
CBSN
Two medical advisers for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implored the U.S. government on Wednesday to expand COVID-19 vaccination access and other mitigation measures at immigration detention centers, where infections have surged by over 800% in 2022, according to a whistleblower disclosure obtained by CBS News.
In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Scott Allen and Josiah Rich, two doctors who inspect detention facilities on behalf of the department's civil rights office, denounced the government's "slow and inconsistent" efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 among immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of DHS.
"In our own inspections of ICE facilities, for example, we have seen and documented inconsistent enforcement of mask use in detention centers, inconsistent testing and surveillance, and a failure to develop facility level infection control plans — all critical measures to control the spread of what we know is a highly transmissible, life-threatening illness," the medical consultants wrote.
President Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is suiting up for his annual voyage from the North Pole to households around the world. In keeping with decades of tradition, the North American Aerospace Command, or NORAD, will once again track Santa's journey to deliver gifts to children before Christmas 2024, using an official map that's updated consistently to show where he is right now.
An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, appears to have been given new life after an appeals court on Monday determined its rules can be enforced as the case proceeds. The law requires small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by Jan. 1, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.