Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Intends To Penalize Generic Drug Companies That Don't Make Products In US
CNBC: Trump Plans High Generic-Drug Tariffs In 2028 To Spur U.S. Production
President Donald Trump said generic drugs imported into the U.S. will face zero tariffs for two years starting August 1, before a 100% levy takes effect in August 2028 and rises to 200% a year later. The phased schedule is intended to push generic drugmakers to move production onshore, Trump said in a social media post Tuesday, describing the escalation as “a penalty” for companies that don’t build plants and facilities in the U.S. within the grace period. (Bao, 7/21)
On the immigration crisis —
El Paso Matters: Chickenpox Exposures Triggered ICE Camp East Montana Quarantine
Camp East Montana, an immigrant detention center in East El Paso, had an unannounced quarantine this month after four female detainees were exposed to varicella, also known as chickenpox. An additional 55 detainees were identified as secondary contacts, meaning they interacted with someone exposed to chickenpox, but not directly with an infected person. (Totiyapungprasert, 7/21)
The Washington Post: ICE Officials Warned Of Dangerous Crowding. See How They Kept Packing People In.
For weeks, U.S. immigration officials alerted their colleagues about dangerous overcrowding at 26 Federal Plaza, where detainees were held in small rooms with no beds, showers or full-time medical staff. In New York, ICE agents were arresting immigrants much faster than they could be transported to longer-term detention centers, officials said in emails and text messages, waylaying dozens of detainees for days in crowded rooms that usually hold people for no more than 12 hours. People slept sitting up because there wasn’t enough space to lie down. (MacMillan, Steckelberg, Kirkpatrick and Shapiro, 7/22)
The Texas Tribune: ICE Arresting Relatives Trying To Take Custody Of Migrant Kids
On an early April morning, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents approached Y.R. in the parking lot of her Dallas-Fort Worth area apartment as she was about to head to her construction job. Y.R., a 37-year-old undocumented Honduran immigrant who came to the U.S. in early 2022, had spent nearly a year filling out government forms and submitting to a background check and DNA test to get custody of her niece and nephew, who had been stuck in a federal shelter after they crossed the Texas-Mexico border in the spring of 2025. (Garcia, Nguyen and Mahajan, 7/21)
Houston Public Media: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders State Health Agencies To Crack Down On ‘Birth Tourism’
Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order to crack down on the practice of "birth tourism." The move appears to be a response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding birthright citizenship, despite efforts by President Donald Trump to restrict it. Abbott's order directs six health-focused state agencies to investigate schemes aimed at helping non-citizens travel to the United States illegally for the alleged purposes of giving birth and securing U.S. citizenship for their children. (Schneider, 7/21)
Another government shutdown is averted —
The Washington Post: House Passes Bill To Fund The Government Until After Midterm Elections
The House passed a stopgap bill to fund the government into December in an effort to avoid another government shutdown weeks before the midterms, but the effort faces an uphill climb in the Senate. The resolution, which would fund the government through Dec. 4, passed 220-205. (Dillard, Alfaro and Binday, 7/22)
