White House says most migrants will be turned away from border

FILE PHOTO: Migrants are seen after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request for asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Now is not the time for new migrants to come to the U.S. border and most will be turned away, the White House said on Wednesday, citing the coronavirus pandemic and the Biden administration's short time in office to set up processes for new migrants.

"Now is not the time to come and the vast majority of people will be turned away," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a daily briefing.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Latest Stories

  • 'You don't have American history without Black people': How one Utah school failed its students

    A public charter school in Utah sparked controversy over the weekend after announcing that parents could “exercise their civil rights” and opt their children out of the school’s Black History Month curriculum. After widespread backlash, it’s walking back this decision.

  • Stimulus checks would be capped at $100,000 income under Democrat plan. What we know

    Here’s who would get stimulus checks under the plan by House Democrats.

  • Asian Man Beaten and Robbed of ‘Around $15K’ at Bank in the Bay Area

    In the latest of a new surge in anti-Asian attacks, a man was assaulted and robbed while trying to deposit “large sums of money” at a bank in San Leandro, California this week. The incident, which left the victim with minor injuries, occurred at the Bank of America branch at 1925 Marina Boulevard around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday. Witnesses tell me this older Asian man was making a deposit at the Bank of America along Marina in San Leandro & was attacked & robbed.

  • U.S. to start sending COVID-19 vaccines directly to community health centers

    The U.S. government will begin shipping COVID-19 vaccines directly to community health centers next week in an effort to speed vaccinations and ensure doses are reaching vulnerable people, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday. The government will send doses to 250 centers nationwide selected based on their proximity to vulnerable groups, such as homeless people and those with limited proficiency in English, they said. Typically, vaccine doses would go to state governments for distribution to health centers.

  • Russia wants Navalny ally arrested abroad; Lithuania refuses

    A Moscow court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of a top ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but Lithuania, where the associate lives, bluntly rejected the demand to take him into custody. The action against Leonid Volkov by the Basmanny District Court was seen as part of an effort by authorities to squelch demonstrations demanding the release of Navalny, a top Kremlin foe who has been jailed since Jan. 17. Volkov, a chief strategist for Navalny, was charged with encouraging minors to take part in unauthorized rallies, which could land him in jail for up to three years.

  • Brand formerly known as Aunt Jemima reveals new name

    The old Aunt Jemima brand and logo was based on a racist "mammy" stereotype.

  • Lindsey Graham reads Neera Tanden negative Glassdoor reviews from old employees during confirmation hearing

    As Neera Tanden, President Biden's nominee to take over as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sat Wednesday for her confirmation hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, read aloud some reviews her former employees at the Center for American Progress left on Glassdoor over the last few years. Graham noted that Tanden, the president of CAP, referred the committee to the reviews, some of which were far from flattering about the management at the public policy organization, even when the overall experience was considered positive ("Great experience, terrible management," one read.) "All I can say," Graham said after going through some of the negative comments, "is that this is not the unifying pick that I was looking for in this position." CONFIRMATION HEARING: Sen. Lindsey Graham reads negative Glassdoor reviews of Center for American Progress under Neera Tanden after she referred committee to them: “‘1 out of 5 stars. Terrible absolutely horrible.’” pic.twitter.com/u6hKaZWg0W — Forbes (@Forbes) February 10, 2021 Republicans like Graham weren't the only ones to raise concerns about Tanden. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the committee, joined some GOP colleagues in questioning Tanden about some inflammatory comments she previously made on Twitter. "Your attacks were not just made against Republicans," he said. "There were vicious attacks made against progressives. People I have worked with." Sanders acknowledged lawmakers are used to such criticism, but he clarified that "it's important" to refrain from personal attacks and instead express "differences on policy." Tanden told Sanders she regrets her past remarks and will change her approach if confirmed. .@SenSanders says it's important to "minimize the level of personal and vicious attacks." Asks Neera Tanden if she'll have a different approach at OMB.@neeratanden: "Absolutely...social media does lead to too many personal comments and my approach will be radically different." pic.twitter.com/QB6FAtrWQr — CSPAN (@cspan) February 10, 2021 More stories from theweek.comTrump the phone guy is backTrump still hasn't conceded his election loss. But his impeachment lawyer Bruce Castor did, several times.Georgia prosecutors reportedly open criminal investigation into Trump call

  • U.S. government partnering with Texas to build three mass vaccination sites

    The federal government is partnering with the state of Texas to build three mass vaccination sites, following last week’s announcement that it would build such sites in California, federal health officials said during a Wednesday media briefing. Each site will be able to administer 10,000 shots per day, according to Jeffrey Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, and should begin giving the shots by Feb. 22. The sites will be in the Dallas and Houston areas and will be operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to a state news release.

  • McConnell Declines to Whip Votes for Trump, Remains Undecided on Conviction: Report

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly suggested to his Republican colleagues that voting whether to convict former President Donald Trump of “inciting an insurrection” is a matter of conscience and need not align with senators’ earlier votes to dispute the constitutionality of the trial. Sources reportedly told Bloomberg that McConnell has not yet decided how he will vote, although he voted that the Senate hearing for the 45th president is unconstitutional on Tuesday. During Trump’s first impeachment trial, the Kentucky Republican said he did not consider himself an impartial juror. However, in the time since, many Republicans have distanced themselves from the former president following months of rhetoric from Trump that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Trump’s comments, which Democrats claim led to the eventual storming of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on January 6, led the House to pass a single article of impeachment: “inciting an insurrection.” However, even with the shifting dynamics in Congress and the Republican party, it is still unlikely that the Senate will vote to convict Trump. The chamber is evenly divided 50-50 and a two-thirds majority is required to convict. At least 17 Republicans would need to vote along with every Democratic senator, though just six GOP senators on Tuesday voted to support the constitutionality of the trial. In a leadership meeting Monday night, the Senate minority leader reportedly said the same things he has said publicly, a source told Bloomberg. Last month McConnell blamed Trump and other “powerful people” for provoking the rioters who amassed at the Capitol. “The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals, who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor. “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government that they did not like.” Reports last month indicated McConnell was pleased with Democrats’ impeachment effort, though he had not yet determined whether he will vote to convict.

  • Shutdown in Kashmir to remember man executed by India

    Businesses and shops closed in many parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday to mark the eighth anniversary of the secret execution of a Kashmiri man in New Delhi. Hundreds of armed police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear patrolled as most residents stayed indoors in the disputed region’s main city of Srinagar. Many Kashmiris were incensed when Mohammed Afzal Guru was secretly hanged on Feb. 9, 2013, in a New Delhi jail on charges of involvement in a 2001 Parliament attack that killed 14 people, including five gunmen.

  • House impeachment managers present a montage of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack

    On the first day of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, House impeachment managers show a video montage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

  • Biden budget nominee 'absolutely' backs U.S. minimum wage hike

    Neera Tanden, Democratic President Joe Biden's nominee to head the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, told U.S. senators on Wednesday she would support raising the federal minimum wage, without giving a target for a higher rate. "Absolutely," she said at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Budget Committee after the panel's chairman, Senator Bernie Sanders, asked her if she would help move to end "starvation wages" in the country "by raising the minimum wage over a period of several years." Tanden said recent studies had challenged the conventional view about the impact of minimum wage increases on jobs and determined that job loss rates due to such raises were "relatively low."

  • Trump still hasn't conceded his election loss. But his impeachment lawyer Bruce Castor did, several times.

    Former President Donald Trump was, by all accounts, furious at his impeachment trial defense team, especially lead lawyer Bruce Castor, panned across the board for his odd, rambling opening statement. "Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded to an emotional presentation by House impeachment managers with a series of dry, technical, and at times meandering arguments about due process and the constitutionality of the proceedings," Politico reports. "As they droned on, he grew increasingly frustrated with the sharp contrast between their muted response and the prosecution's opening salvo." But Trump, watching the trial on Newsmax, wasn't just dismayed at Castor's low-energy performance and the bad reviews from allies and senator-jurors, Politico reports. Castor declined to use "graphics or a video — tools his TV-obsessed client had hoped to deploy." And the former president was upset Castor "wore an ill-fitting suit and at one point praised the case presented by the Democratic House impeachment managers," The Washington Post adds, even though Trump himself was reportedly also impressed with the impeachment managers and their video presentation. And Castor notably "did what Trump himself has not: conceded Joe Biden won the presidential election," The Associated Press notes. He called Trump a "former president," said he "was removed by the voters," and argued that Americans are "smart enough to pick a new administration if they don't like the old one, and they just did." Trump continues to insist falsely that he actually won the election, and this "big lie" — that the election was "stolen" from him — undergirds his entire impeachment trial. Castor was using Trump's status as former president to make his case, rejected by the Senate, that it's unconstitutional to try a president after he leaves office. In fact, "Trump initially pushed his impeachment lawyers to make the baseless case that the election was stolen," the Post reports, "an approach they ultimately rejected while still arguing that the First Amendment protects their client's right to share misinformation and false claims." More stories from theweek.comTrump the phone guy is backGeorgia prosecutors reportedly open criminal investigation into Trump callU.S. may not reach COVID-19 herd immunity until Thanksgiving, Biden officials reportedly say

  • TV journalists face three years in prison for reporting on Belarus protests

    Two Belarusian journalists working for the Polish television channel Belsat went on trial in the capital Minsk on Tuesday on charges related to their coverage of mass protests in 2020, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said. Yekaterina Andreeva and Darya Chultsova, a reporter and a camerawoman for Belsat, were arrested in November after a demonstration. Months of protests took place in Belarus after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory over opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in an election in August.

  • Singaporean Professor Lectures for 2 Hours, Dies Inside After Realizing He was Muted the Whole Time

    Dong Wang is an associate professor from the Department of Mathematics at the National University of Singapore (NUS). YouTube users who claim to be in the class reported that they had done "all sorts of things" to get his attention, but he simply ignored them.

  • Who are the Uighurs and why is the US accusing China of genocide?

    China has been accused by the US of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Muslim minority group.

  • Senate panel advances EPA nominee; GOP slams Interior pick

    A Senate committee has endorsed President Joe Biden's nomination of Michael Regan to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, setting up a vote in the full Senate. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced Regan's nomination Tuesday on a 14-6 vote. Four Republicans, including new committee member Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, joined with all 10 Democrats to support Regan.

  • Trump reportedly avoided calling Biden a 'predator' in ads because it would 'open up his own can of worms'

    Former President Donald Trump apparently had his limits when it came to attacking his political rivals. Throughout the 2020 campaign season, Trump had the final say over which campaign ads made it onto the air and which were tossed out. He made those decisions at regular White House viewing sessions, where his top White House aides and campaign officials would gather to laugh at and workshop ads, including some too "out there" even for the former president, Axios reports. A few times a month, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale would bring his laptop to the White House and sit "so close" to Trump that it sometimes "bothered" him, a source tells Axios. Parscale would then play through a reel of campaign ads, including many inspired by "young, pro-Trump fans who sent their ideas" to him, Axios continues. One targeted CNN's Don Lemon and his coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests, while another showed President Biden coughing to allege he was unwell, a source said. Trump would often "burst out laughing" at some of the wilder spots, but then conclude they were too "brutal" or "weren't worth the backlash" he'd get, the source told Axios. One subject Trump particularly avoided was Biden's inappropriate touching of women, Axios reports. At one point, Trump's campaign drew up an ad featuring clips of women who'd accused Biden of inappropriate contact, and then finished with a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris declaring "I know a predator when I see one." But as one source close to the campaign said, "He never wanted to run the predator or women's-style ads against Biden, because he was afraid he was going to open up his own can of worms." Read more about Trump's campaign ad critiques at Axios. More stories from theweek.comTrump the phone guy is backTrump still hasn't conceded his election loss. But his impeachment lawyer Bruce Castor did, several times.Georgia prosecutors reportedly open criminal investigation into Trump call

  • UK tightens travel restrictions with quarantine, prison threat

    The government said it would bring in tighter border controls next week against new variants of the coronavirus

  • Clubhouse: The controversial chats that angered China's censors

    It's hard for Chinese citizens to discuss sensitive topics online, but the Clubhouse app let them - briefly.