OUR PICKSMore Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border | Why TikTok is a National Security Threat | Al-Qaeda: A Defeated Threat? Think Again, and more
· Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border
More than 24,000 Chinese citizens have been apprehended crossing into the United States from Mexico in the past year. That is more than in the preceding 10 years combined.
· US Electric Vehicle Sales to Hit Record This Year
Electric vehicle sales are expected to hit a record 9% of all passenger vehicles in the U.S. this year
· Why TikTok is a National Security Threat
TikTok could be the biggest foreign intelligence operation in U.S. history. It’s time for Congress to act.
· As Groundwater Dwindles, Powerful Players Block Change
In a country where the value of land often depends on access to water, powerful interests in agriculture, heavy industry and real estate draw vast amounts of water out of the ground
· A Misleading Metaphor: The Nuclear “Arms Race”
The “arms race” metaphor does far more harm than good in explaining a poorly understood dynamic
· Al-Qaeda: A Defeated Threat? Think Again
Al-Qaeda’s has proven its adaptability and determination, and any claims of al-Qaeda’s defeat are, at this point, premature
· Escalating Violence in Gaza Increasing Chatter of Possible Terror Attack in New York, Intelligence Report Says
The spread of antisemitic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric on social media is fueling an increase in hate crimes targeting Jews, Muslims and Arabs
Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border (Eileen Sullivan, New York Times)
The surge of migrants entering the United States across the southern border increasingly includes people from a surprising place: China.
Despite the distances involved and the difficulties of the journey, more than 24,000 Chinese citizens have been apprehended crossing into the United States from Mexico in the past year. That is more than in the preceding 10 years combined, according to government data.
And most succeed, in turn fueling further attempts. Chinese citizens are more successful than people from other countries with their asylum claims in immigration court. And those who are not end up staying anyway because China usually will not take them back.
In the polarizing debate over immigration, it is a little-discussed wrinkle in the U.S. system: American officials cannot force countries to take back their own citizens. For the most part, this is not an issue. But about a dozen countries are not terribly cooperative, and China is the worst offender.
Of the 1.3 million people in the United States with final orders to be deported, about 100,000 are Chinese, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal data.
US Electric Vehicle Sales To Hit Record This Year (AP / VOS News)
Electric vehicle sales are expected to hit a record 9% of all passenger vehicles in the U.S. this year, according to Atlas Public Policy. That will be up from 7.3% of new car sales in 2022.
It will be the first time more than 1 million EVs are sold in the United States in one calendar year, probably reaching between 1.3 million and 1.4 million cars, the research firm predicts.
Although the numbers show significant progress for electrification, the nation is lagging behind countries like China, Germany and Norway.
EVs reached 33% of sales in China, 35% in Germany, and 90% in Norway for the first six months of 2023, according to a BloombergNEF EV outlook published in June. These figures include both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs.
In those countries, ambitious government zero-emissions targets, vehicle tax incentives and subsidies, and affordable options play a role in a consumer’s decision to adopt a plug-in vehicle.
