🚧 Axios PM: Trumpish border moves

Plus: Chunky bear contest | Thursday, October 05, 2023

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Meta   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Oct 05, 2023 👋 Happy Thursday! Today's PM — edited by Noah Bressner — is 591 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for the copy edit.     1 big thing: Biden's Trumpish border moves Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Agencia Press South, John Moore, Kevin Dietsch, Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images   After an outcry from blue state governors and big city mayors, President Biden's border policy in 2023 is looking more like the Trump era, Axios' Stef Kight writes. Biden's going forward with a border wall in South Texas, striking deals with Mexico, expediting family deportation, restricting asylum and paying Panama to remove people as historic migration continues. Why it matters: Political pressure has been building for Biden to fix the border problem fast. What's happening: Top Cabinet members descended on Mexico today to discuss solutions to illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling as tension between the two countries has escalated. Venezuela also agreed to cooperate with U.S. deportation efforts for the first time in years, senior administration officials announced today. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at a meeting in Mexico City today. Photo: Marco Ugarte/AP 🔎 Zoom in: Administration officials are quick to point to the differences between Biden's border policies and his predecessor's, including expansive legal parole programs. But the similarities are hard to miss. After swearing he wouldn't build more border walls, Biden is now waiving dozens of federal laws to allow exactly that in South Texas. Asylum-seekers who don't seek refuge in a country they traveled through first are being rejected for asylum, reminiscent of Trump's so-called transit ban. Homeland Security is expanding a program to deport families faster. The State Department is readying to use foreign aid to assist another country's deportation efforts for the first time in history — similar to a plan first pursued by Trump. Between the lines: The South Texas border wall project will use funds from 2019, when Trump was president. Biden argues that the construction is required to go forward by law. Keep reading.     2. 🤖 CEOs say AI = top priority Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios   The vast majority of CEOs see AI as a "top investment priority" for their company, Axios Closer co-author Nathan Bomey writes from a KPMG report. Bosses see AI as a longer-term investment, according to a survey of 400 U.S. CEOs. 🧮 By the numbers: 62% say they expect to profit from it in three to five years. Just 23% expect a return in one to three years. Keep reading.     A message from Meta Trained in the metaverse, serving real patients     Across the world, millions go blind due to lack of access to eye care. To help, FundamentalVR and Orbis International deploy cataract surgery training in the metaverse. The impact: Surgeons can train as many times as needed before working with real patients. Explore the impact.     3. Catch me up FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried depicted in court during jury selection yesterday. Sketch: Elizabeth Williams/AP ⚖️ Sam Bankman-Fried knew that billions of dollars in customer funds were owed to FTX by its sister trading firm months before the crypto exchange collapsed in November, a witness in his criminal trial testified today. More from Axios' Crystal Kim. 🗳️ A federal court approved a new Alabama congressional map that expands the voting power of Black residents and puts Democrats in a position to pick up a House seat next November, Axios' Eugene Scott writes. 🗝️ The Michelin Guide will start ranking hotels in addition to restaurants. It'll use "keys" instead of stars. Keep reading.     4. 🐻 Fat Bear Week is here Data: Explore.org. Visual: Jacque Schrag and Aïda Amer/Axios The race is on to find the chonkiest bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park, Axios' Ivana Saric writes. Fat Bear Week, an annual March Madness-style bracket contest, kicked off yesterday — and the internet loves it. The brown bears gobble up Brooks River sockeye salmon to bulk up before hibernating. Fans follow along on live camera feeds and vote to crown the bear that has done the best job fattening up. 🖼️ The big picture: Fat Bear Week has seen its popularity skyrocket since its start in 2014, Dave Barak, public affairs specialist at the National Parks Service, told Axios. It's become so popular there's now a Fat Bear Junior bracket for "chubby cubbies." Share this story … Full list of contestants.     A message from Meta "I can practice cataract surgeries over and over in the metaverse"     Today, doctors like Renee Badroe are training in the metaverse to help treat patients with limited access to eye care. Here's how: Sharpening their skills with FundamentalVR and Orbis International's immersive cataract training program. Discover other stories.   📬 Thanks for reading. Please invite your friends to join. Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. 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