President Biden is set to go to the border this weekend, and El Paso is cleaning up its streets ahead of the president’s visit. This story and more highlight the midday rundown for Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.
Cleanup in El Paso ahead of Biden visit
New images depict major changes seen in El Paso, Texas, streets this week. On Monday, hundreds of migrants camped out in downtown El Paso. Border Patrol and police removed the migrants, then cleaned up blankets and belongings left behind.
Sidewalks are now clean ahead of the president’s visit, but the federal agency says the recent cleanup has no correlation with Biden arriving in El Paso in a few days.
The city has become the epicenter of the southern border crisis. Between August and December, more migrants have been encountered here than any other region along the border.
Straight Arrow News has a full report detailing Biden’s upcoming trip on StraightArrowNews.com.
Canceled Keystone pipeline cost thousands of jobs
A study from the Energy Department has found the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline cost the U.S. thousands of jobs. If potential jobs in Canada and the U.S. are included, that number is as high as 59,000 jobs lost.
A permit for the pipeline to be built was nixed two years ago on President Biden’s first day in office. It was a move that attracted incredible opposition and anger from Republicans and the energy industry.
“The Department of Energy finally admitted to the worst kept secret about the Keystone pipeline: President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline sacrificed thousands of American jobs,” said Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, following the report.
On the other side of the aisle, President Biden has long defended the decision to cancel the construction of Keystone, citing climate concerns.
“The United States and the world face a climate crisis. Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my administration’s economic and climate imperatives,” Biden said.
World’s most wanted human trafficker caught
One of the world’s most wanted human traffickers, Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam, has been caught and arrested after an international manhunt.
He is accused of abducting, extorting and murdering vulnerable migrants trying to flee Libya. Libya is currently one of the countries on America’s “do not fly” list, due to its high crime, terrorism and kidnapping rings.
70,000 big rigs banned in California
Some truckers will no longer be able to cross into California after a new clean-air initiative went into effect this week. Some 70,000 big rigs are now banned from traveling on California roadways.
Diesel trucks must be a 2010 or newer model. If it was built before 2010, the weight must be less than 14,000 pounds. California produces 75% of the nation’s fruits and nuts. The trucking industry has pushed back on the ban, concerned over how it could further hurt supply chain issues in the country.
First honeybee vaccine approved
Honeybees have long been crucial to the survival of mankind, which makes their survival important. Honeybees are now being given a first-of-its-kind vaccine approved by the U.S. government. The vaccine is meant to defend a bee against a deadly and serious disease that kills hives and colonies and spreads quickly.
The vaccine is administered to the bees through sweet jelly that is infused with the medicine. The bees then deliver that jelly to the queen. When the queen bee ingests the jelly, it goes to her ovaries, and then her babies are born with immunity.
