Friday morning news: May 12, 2023

Border » The Title 42 immigration rule has officially expired. This is a day border towns and states have been bracing for for months with a massive surge expected.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday:

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: We could see very crowded—as we are now—we could see very crowded Border Patrol facilities. I cannot overstate the strain on our personnel and our facilities.

The pandemic rule allowed authorities to expel some migrants before they could seek asylum. While that rule has expired, Mayorkas says migrants are required to first seek asylum elsewhere or schedule an appointment online before showing up at the border.

Texas National Guardsman are helping to man the border. But Major Sean Storrud says their role is limited.

SEAN STORRUD: All we can do is we can stand in their way. At no point are my soldiers going to use physical force with the migrants unless their safety or the safety of another soldier or law enforcement officer is placed in danger.

The Biden administration pushed to end the Title 42 rule. But the White House says Congress is to blame for the border crisis for failing to overhaul the immigration system.

House border bill » Meantime, on Capitol Hill lawmakers in the House passed a new border security bill just as Title 42 expired.

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 219, the 213. The bill is passed. Without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

The Republican bill passed on a partyline vote. It would, among other things, build more sections of border wall and implement tougher rules for asylum seekers.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy:

KEVIN McCARTHY: This bill secures the border from President Biden’s record crossings, record carelessness, and record chaos.

But the House’s top Democrat, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, called it

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: The Republican effort to try to weaponize and politicize the border as opposed to doing something meaningful about it.

President Biden called the bill “anti-immigrant” and vowed to veto it. But the bill will almost certainly die in the Democrat-led Senate.

FL immigration bill » And in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this week signed a sweeping immigration bill into law.

RON DESANTIS: This makes Florida the largest state in the country to do full E-Verify for employment.

The new law also ramps up penalties for human trafficking. It bars the use of tax dollars to provide official IDs to illegal immigrants and invalidates drivers licenses granted by other states to those in the country illegally.

Standing behind a lecturn emblazoned with the words “Biden’s border crisis,” DeSantis took aim at the president’s policies.

DESANTIS: This is a huge, huge dereliction of duty to ignore the security and the borders of your own country.

DeSantis is expected to announce a presidential campaign in the weeks ahead.

Biden fam bank accounts » The White House is lashing out at GOP lawmakers after Republicans on the House Oversight Committee came forward with explosive allegations this week, surrounding Biden family business dealings.

Committee Chairman James Comer:

JAMES COMER: We have discovered all of these LLCs that were hidden. We are trying to unravel this web that the Biden family created to try to disguise the center of these payments.

Comer presented what he said was evidence showing that the Biden family and business partners pocketed millions of dollars from for nationals in China and Romania while Joe Biden was vice president.

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace says the Dept. of Justice needs to investigate whether foreign actors used the money to buy U.S. government influence.

NANCY MACE: Look at the number of shell companies, the millions of dollars being moved around, the access they had to the president, the vice president.

The White House shot back, accusing Comer and other Republicans on the committee of using—quote—“baseless attacks” to “score political points.”

EPA » The EPA is proposing strict new limits on carbon emissions from coal and gas-powered power plants.

Under the rule, almost all plants would have to cut or capture most of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2038.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan:

MICHAEL REGAN: It will bring substantial health benefits to communities all across the country, especially our frontline communities.

But critics say the proposed limits are not practical and would force some plants to close, eliminating jobs and hurting the economy.

Some Republican lawmakers say they’ll work to block the regulation.

Gaza » In the Middle East the death toll continues to rise from fighting between Islamic militants and Israeli forces. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Explosions lit up the night sky over Israel last night as the country’s missile defense system shot down rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

The system takes out about 95% of incoming rockets, but some have still found their mark striking communities along the border.

Israeli forces launched another targeted airstrike in Gaza, killing the head of the Islamic Jihad group’s rocket command. But the strike also reportedly claimed the lives of a woman and child.

At least 30 people were confirmed dead on Thursday as ceasefire talks collapsed.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, making kids’ summer reading fun and formative.

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