IMMIGRATION
‘Buy-a-visa’ program could be saved through reform, say supporters
Supporters of a troubled visa program called EB-5 say the initiative can be fixed.
“Mend it, don’t end it,” said Texas Rep. John Cornyn during a February hearing on EB-5 held by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The initiative fast-tracks U.S. citizenship for wealthy foreigners and their families in exchange for a $500,000 investment in the United States.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has called the program “deeply unfair” and “prone to abuse.” She urged fellow lawmakers to scrap the program in December’s budget deal. But Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, recently threw their support behind a package of reforms proposed by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., that aims to clean up the program.
According to the State Department, EB-5 administers about 10,000 “green cards” annually, just a small fraction of the more than 500,000 immigration visas approved by the federal government each year. But growing skepticism over immigration policies and national security this election season has officials taking a closer look at the EB-5 application process. In 2015, 62 visas were approved for Iranians, 88 for Russians and more than 8,000 for Chinese investors and their families.
Grassley and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would like to see guarantees that more development projects funded through the program are in rural areas and distressed neighborhoods, instead of Washington and New York. Rules could be tightened to enable smaller operations to better compete with high-profile high-rises.
Without an overhaul, though, even EB-5 backers say the program is too riddled with cronyism to be saved as is.
“If we don’t get it right this time … the Chinese government is pretty close to just outright ownership of a U.S. federal immigration program,” Shae Armstrong, a Dallas lawyer who represents EB-5 regional centers and real estate developers, told InsideSources during an interview. — Joana Suleiman
EDUCATION
Few high school grads ready for college or work
Fewer than one in 10 high school graduates are ready for life after graduation, according to the Education Trust.
In a new report titled “Meandering Toward Graduation,” Education Trust researchers Marni Bromberg and Christina Theokas detail how unprepared high school graduates are for college and work. They say only 8 percent of graduates complete full college and career-prep curricula. The low completion rate is consistent across race and family income. About 31 percent of graduates finish college-ready curricula, while 13 percent finish career-ready curricula. Nearly half complete no cohesive curricula.
“Our findings reflect a focus on credit accumulation, rather than a focus on true readiness for life after graduation,” Bromberg and Theokas write. “Despite the rhetorical commitment to college and career readiness for all students, only a small fraction of 2013 graduates completed both college and career-preparatory course sequences in high school.” They say schools need to ensure every high school graduate is truly ready for work and college.
Their definition of a career-ready curriculum is three credits of career technical education in the same field. College-ready curricula include four credits in English, two credits of a foreign language and three credits each in math, science and social studies. — Jason Russell
DRUGS
DEA could reschedule marijuana by July
The Drug Enforcement Administration sent a memo to lawmakers saying the agency has all the information needed to make a decision to change the federal status of marijuana “in the first half of 2016.”
The memo, written in conjuction with the heads of the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Drug Control Policy, also details how the federal government provides marijuana to researchers. Currently, the government grants a monopoly on marijuana production and research to one program at the University of Mississippi.
Marijuana’s Schedule 1 classification, set in 1970, has become increasingly out of date with public opinion, medical use and state laws. The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have urged the DEA to change the drug’s scheduling status, which labels it as one of “the most dangerous drugs” and “has no medical use.”
Families desperate for relief for loved ones’ ailments are moving to states where pot is legal and turning to the Internet for information on treatments and dosage. Still, experts say the changing legalization policies are nowhere near enough to keep up with demand. — Joana Suleiman
ENVIRONMENT
World Bank announces big climate plan
The World Bank announced its counterpart to President Obama’s climate agenda by adopting its own climate change action plan.
The global development bank released the plan two weeks ahead of world leaders descending on New York to sign December’s Paris climate change accord. Its aim is to accelerate the efforts by developing countries in meeting their obligations under the Paris deal.
“Following the Paris climate agreement, we must now take bold action to protect our planet for future generations,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said.
Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for causing the Earth’s temperature to rise, resulting in more severe weather, droughts and sea-level rise.
The plan lays out aggressive targets to help developing nations add 30 gigawatts of renewable energy, which is enough to power 150 million homes, by 2020. It also would help emerging economies develop severe weather early warning systems and develop climate-smart agriculture investment plans for at least 40 countries.
Obama presented his own Climate Action Plan in 2013, laying out a far-reaching regulatory agenda. The centerpiece of it, the Clean Power Plan, was halted by the Supreme Court in February.
Obama will journey to U.N. headquarters on Earth Day, April 22, to sign the Paris climate accord. — John Siciliano
SENIORS
Senate tries to save Meals on Wheels
The Senate passed a bill aimed at improving nutrition and providing support to the popular program “Meals on Wheels” that offers food for seniors.
The Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2016 helps to provide services to seniors with social and economic needs, including providing group meals, home-delivered meals and family caregiver support. It also includes a long-term care ombudsman program that is intended for long-term care residents to help resolve disputes and complaints, according to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which introduced the bill.
“For the last 50 years, the Older Americans Act has provided grants to states so they can help seniors live more comfortably at home or ensure high-quality care at a nursing home,” said Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
“A nation is judged by how it cares for its most vulnerable,” added presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. “The shocking truth is that millions of seniors are choosing each day whether to pay their rent, put food on the table or buy the medicine they need.”
The Senate passage comes as spending for nutrition has fluctuated over the past several years. Sequestration imposed severe cuts to senior nutrition programs. Recent funding bills have returned the funding for some of those programs to pre-sequestration levels, according to the advocacy group National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
The act was last reauthorized in 2006, and expired in 2011. The Senate bill extends the act until the end of fiscal 2018.
It now goes to President Obama for his signature. — Robert King
HEALTHCARE
WHO: We need money
The World Health Organization is calling for $2.2 billion to help 30 countries facing protracted health emergencies, with the agency saying that such health needs are at a record high.
The United Nation’s health agency wants the money to provide medicines, vaccines and treatments for diseases such as cholera and measles.
“The risks to health caused by humanitarian emergencies are at an all-time high,” says Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO’s executive director for outbreaks and health emergencies. “And the situation is getting worse. The increasing impact of protracted conflict, forced displacement, climate change, unplanned urbanization and demographic changes all mean that humanitarian emergencies are becoming more frequent and severe.”
Among the emergencies are a major drought in Ethiopia, a major cyclone that hit Fiji in February, the Zika virus outbreak and the lingering Ebola outbreak.
In Syria, which has been ravaged by civil war, the WHO said that it needs funds to help 11.5 million people with health services including trauma and mental healthcare. — Robert King
