Vox Sentences - The EU’s vaccine passport

The House prepares to pass immigration bills; the EU is creating a coronavirus passport to encourage tourism this summer.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

TOP NEWS

House Democrats push immigration

Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

The Democratic-led House is expected to soon pass two immigration bills, creating a pathway to citizenship for young undocumented people and for farmworkers. [The Wall Street Journal / Siobhan Hughes]
The bills are being taken up amid a crisis at the US-Mexico border, where a surge of migrants has led the Biden administration to open facilities to hold unaccompanied minors. [CBS News / Camilo Montoya-Galvez]
The two pieces of legislation represent Democrats’ piecemeal approach to enacting President Biden’s broader immigration agenda, considering most of the proposals are a non-starter with Republicans. The bills will face tough odds in the Senate, where 10 Republicans would need to get on board for either bill to pass. [The Associated Press / Alan Fram]
Both bills passed the House in 2019 with some bipartisan support. Seven Republicans voted "yes" on a bill to protect young undocumented people from deportation, and 34 supported a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers. [Reuters / Susan Cornwell]
The first bill, the American Dream and Promise Act, would allow some young immigrants with clean records to apply for conditional status and then, if successful, apply for citizenship after 10 years. Quicker paths to green cards for military service, work experience, or earning a college degree. Humanitarian protectees would have a quicker path. [Vox / Nicole Narea]
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act creates a path for undocumented farmworkers to apply for citizenship contingent on their work in agriculture. It also would reform the temporary agricultural worker program, which allows companies to bring in foreign farmworkers. [NBC News / Rebecca Shabad and Alex Moe]
House Republicans have countered with their own plan, led by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL). Their plan protects Dreamers and creates a 10-year path to legal status for undocumented immigrants with clean records, but also mandates border security funding and the use of E-Verify for all companies, which screens for immigration status. [The Hill / Tal Axelrod]
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) expressed doubt that comprehensive immigration reform, and particularly creating a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, would get through Congress. [CNN / Daniela Diaz and Claire Foran]

EU moves to create travel passports

EU officials are developing a digital green certificate that would allow for travel without quarantine throughout member countries by displaying whether a traveler had received a coronavirus vaccine, had recovered from the virus, or had a recent negative test. [BBC News]
The aim is to have the program running by June in order to facilitate summer travel among member countries, despite the EU’s low vaccination rate thus far. The plan is to first limit the certificates to EU residents, with hopes to extend it to travelers from other countries. [The Washington Post / Rick Noack and Quentin Ariès]
The passes will be free and available both digitally or physically, with a QR code that customs officials can scan, and offered in English and the language of the region from which a traveler is leaving. [Euronews / Sarah Palmer]
One area of complication has been over which vaccines count for the certificate. The EU says member countries are obligated to include travelers vaccinated with EU-approved shots and can approve travel for people with other vaccinations. [Politico / Mari Eccles and Hanne Cokelaere]
Concerns have also been raised over potential discrimination against young people, for example, who are mostly not considered a priority to get a vaccine. To ameliorate concerns, officials have included options for travelers to show recent Covid-19 recovery or a negative test. [CNBC / Silvia Amaro]

MISCELLANEOUS

The House reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, which will go to the Senate and likely face Republican opposition.

[Vox / Li Zhou]

A recall vote is likely coming for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) after a group submitted the requisite 2.1 million signatures. [Politico / Carla Marinucci]
A new study has found that fishing nets trawling the ocean floor produce as much carbon emissions as global aviation. [Vox / Lili Pike]
Keeping Up with the Kardashians airs the premiere of its final season Thursday night. [Vogue / Christian Allaire]

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VERBATIM

"There's different multiple routes that we are going to advocate for. We can advocate it through the budget reconciliation process.”

[Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Raul Ruiz (D-CA), on how to get immigration reform through the divided Senate]

LISTEN TO THIS

"Wintering," wisdom, and weathering life's darkest times

Vox's Sigal Samuel talks with the author of Wintering, Katherine May, about the lessons we can learn during life's darkest seasons. They talk about our long collective pandemic winter, about how times of retreat can allow for personal and political transformation, and about how we might carry new wisdom with us as we emerge into spring. [Vox / Sigal Samuel]

Vox Sentences - The EU’s vaccine passport

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