An Ignoble Experiment: Millions of renters could soon lose their homes

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Tuesday 08.03.21

Those of us on the Gulf and East coasts are in for a rainy week. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.

By Harmeet Kaur

Father Don Ajoko prays yesterday with medical workers at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Coronavirus

For a while there, it seemed like this whole pandemic situation was looking up. But the Delta variant is spreading rapidly and Americans' pessimism about the pandemic is back on the rise, new polling finds. Louisiana is battling one of the worst Covid-19 surges in the country right now. The ICU of its largest hospital is being stretched to its limit, with symptomatic patients waiting in line for a bed. "We no longer think we're giving adequate care to anybody," a hospital administrator said. Cases are rising around the world, too. The CDC recently added 16 destinations to its "very high" Covid-19 travel risk list.

Housing

Millions of renters are at risk of losing their homes over the next months after a nationwide temporary ban on evictions expired last week. The CDC put the hold in place last year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and now that the Delta variant is surging, that's become a concern again. Still, the expiration of the eviction moratorium seemed to catch the White House and Democrats in Congress by surprise, as both scrambled in the last few days to find a fix to prevent a major housing crisis. All of this could have perhaps been avoided: The Supreme Court ruled in June that extending the freeze would require Congress' backing. But that authorization didn't come. Here's what's next for renters.

Voting rights

Texas Democrats are rallying in the nation's capital today to push Congress to pass voting rights legislation -- and they're bringing reinforcements. More than 100 Democratic state legislators are joining the effort, many of them from Republican-led states that have passed restrictive voting bills. Since the 2020 election, at least 18 states have enacted 30 new laws making it harder to vote. Democrats in Congress have pitched a sweeping voting and election bill, but it was shot down by Senate Republicans. Several Senate Democrats are now working on a revised bill in hopes of reaching a bipartisan compromise.

Belarus

The leader of an organization helping Belarusians flee the country has been found dead a day after he went missing. Ukrainian authorities have launched a criminal case into what they called a suspected premeditated murder. Belarus had already come under international scrutiny in recent days after an Olympic sprinter from the country alleged she was being forcibly removed from the Tokyo Games and told to head home against her will. She got a humanitarian visa from Poland yesterday after refusing to board a flight back. Belarus has been in turmoil since last year, when its longtime leader declared victory in a disputed election, leading to mass protests and a violent crackdown.

Immigration

The Biden administration plans to indefinitely extend a Trump-era policy that allows the government to swiftly expel migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border. The Trump administration instituted the policy at the start of the pandemic, citing coronavirus concerns. But immigrant advocates and health experts argue it has no public health basis and instead puts migrants in harm's way. Tens of thousands of migrants continue to cross into the US each month, and officials say facilities are overwhelmed. Meanwhile, a government watchdog announced it is looking into a facility for unaccompanied migrant children at Fort Bliss in Texas following complaints that it felt more like a warehouse.

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