ICE Will No Longer Jail Pregnant And Post-Partum Migrants
The Biden administration is ending the Trump-era policy. Also, the White House is urged to start preparing for the next pandemic. Other health policy news from federal agencies comes out of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency.
AP:
US Stops Jailing Pregnant Migrants, Reversing Trump Policy
U.S. immigration authorities will no longer routinely jail migrants facing deportation if they are pregnant or recently gave birth, reversing a Trump-era immigration policy. The new directive, announced Friday, does not bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement from initiating proceedings to deport women who are pregnant, nursing or have given birth within the past year. But they generally would no longer be detained pending the outcome of their cases except under “exceptional circumstances,” the agency said. (Fox, 7/9)
The Hill:
Biden Urged To Harden Government For Future Pandemics
Public health experts are urging the Biden administration to harden the federal government for future crises, warning that the U.S. is not prepared for the next pandemic. The White House says it is laser-focused on bolstering the government’s ability to respond to another coronavirus-like outbreak. But doing so will require ample funding from Congress to help agencies react as quickly and effectively as possible to prevent a loss of life similar to COVID-19, which has killed more than 4 million people globally and more than 600,000 Americans. (Chalfant and Weixel, 7/10)
The New York Times:
Hidden Costs And Flawed Training Plague The V.A.’s Huge Software Upgrade
The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the process of overhauling the country’s oldest electronic health record system at the country’s largest hospital network. Even if it goes smoothly, planners have repeatedly warned, it will be an extremely complicated task that will take 10 years and cost more than $16 billion. And so far, it is going anything but smoothly. The new health record software is supposed to increase efficiency and speed up care in the beleaguered veterans’ health system, which serves more than nine million veterans. But when the department put it into use for the first time in October at a V.A. medical center in Washington State, it did the opposite. (Philipps, 7/9)
The New York Times:
E.P.A. Approved Toxic Chemicals For Fracking A Decade Ago, New Files Show
For much of the past decade, oil companies engaged in drilling and fracking have been allowed to pump into the ground chemicals that, over time, can break down into toxic substances known as PFAS — a class of long-lasting compounds known to pose a threat to people and wildlife — according to internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. in 2011 approved the use of these chemicals, used to ease the flow of oil from the ground, despite the agency’s own grave concerns about their toxicity, according to the documents, which were reviewed by The New York Times. The E.P.A.’s approval of the three chemicals wasn’t previously publicly known. (Tabuchi, 7/12)
