Tag Archives: WorldNews

Cal State universities will stay online all year amid COVID-19 pandemic

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The nation’s largest public university system, one of the first to decide to go virtual in fall 2020, will continue remotely in January 2021, Chancellor Timothy P. White announced

Federal court blocks Trump effort to exclude undocumented immigrants when congressional seats are divvied up

A three-judge federal panel in New York has ruled that the Trump administration cannot keep undocumented immigrants from being counted when lawmakers reapportion congressional districts next year — an effort that could have potentially cost Texas several seats in Congress.
A protester holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court where the court ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration did not give an adequate explanation for its plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, delivering a victory to New York state and others challenging the proposal in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A panel of federal judges deemed the Trump push to exclude undocumented immigrants from the base population used to distribute seats in Congress was an “unlawful exercise of authority granted to the President.”

Credit: Carlos Barria/REUTERS

A three-judge federal panel in New York has ruled that the Trump administration cannot keep undocumented immigrants from being counted when lawmakers reapportion congressional districts next year — an effort that could have potentially cost Texas several seats in Congress.

In a significant departure from the way representation is typically divided up, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum in July directing Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to exclude undocumented immigrants from the base population used to distribute seats in Congress. But in its Thursday ruling, the panel of judges deemed the memo an “unlawful exercise of authority granted to the President.”

The constitutionally mandated count each 10 years of every person residing in the country is used to determine congressional representation from each state. Excluding undocumented residents from the counts used to parcel out congressional districts would likely lead to a drastic realignment of political power throughout Texas.

Trump pursued the change by arguing that the U.S. Constitution does not define “which persons must be included” in that base population. But the New York panel of judges blocked Ross, who oversees the census, from providing any information on the number of undocumented people in each state.

Texas has 36 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, in districts that are supposed to be drawn to nearly equal population. Recent estimates indicate the size of the undocumented population in Texas has reached nearly 1.8 million. The state is projected to gain several more seats in the next redistricting round based on population growth — but that depends on achieving an accurate count in the ongoing census.

The memo marked the latest push by Trump to differentiate between citizens and noncitizens when states redraw political districts to account for growth. The courts shot down his attempt to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. His July memo raised questions about what data lawmakers would use to determine how to exclude undocumented residents from the census totals.

The issue could still be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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UT-Austin says it will only require student ticket holders to test negative for COVID-19 before Saturday’s football game

the same precautions won’t be required of thousands of other fans in the stands thus Saturday. There is no testing requirement for fans who aren’t UT-Austin students, nor is there a requirement for visitors from El Paso. And not all UT students are required to be tested — only those who buy “The Big Ticket” season package are subject to the tests, but students who purchase individual game tickets are exempt, said J.B. Bird, a UT-Austin spokesperson.
A University of Texas football game at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin on Sept. 7, 2019.

A University of Texas football game at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin on Sept. 7, 2019.

Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Daily Texan

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Officials at the University of Texas at Austin said Wednesday night that students with football season tickets will be required to take a COVID-19 test on Friday and test negative before they can attend Saturday’s season opener against the University of Texas at El Paso.

But the same precautions won’t be required of thousands of other fans in the stands thus Saturday. There is no testing requirement for fans who aren’t UT-Austin students, nor is there a requirement for visitors from El Paso. And not all UT students are required to be tested — only those who buy “The Big Ticket” season package are subject to the tests, but students who purchase individual game tickets are exempt, said J.B. Bird, a UT-Austin spokesperson.

The mandatory pre-game tests will be provided by the university for free. Students will have from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to get tested on campus Friday, according to the university athletics website.

University officials did not immediately respond to questions about why testing only applied to students.

Students, however, were not required to test negative before returning to campus or attending in-person classes.

The Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium where the game will be held holds a little over 100,000 people, but capacity for the game will be limited to about 25,000 fans. Meanwhile, outdoor gatherings in Austin are still limited to 10 people or less. Gov. Greg Abbott, however, allowed Texas sports to resume with limited fans in the stands.

Austin officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about the public health effects of hosting such a large gathering at this time.“Our gathering limit is 10, and having 25,000 people in one space is a concern,” Mark Escott, Austin Public Health’s interim health authority, said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

Game attendees must wear masks, there will be marking for social distance and tailgates will not be allowed. The university also added 225 hand sanitizer stations throughout the stadium.

Wednesday, the university reported three coronavirus clusters in a university dorm with about 100 positive cases collectively.

Earlier this week, Baylor University and Louisiana Tech University postponed their opening game due to a spike in coronavirus cases following Hurricane Laura, according to a university statement. Texas Christian University also postponed its season opener against Southern Methodist University. Both games were scheduled for Saturday.

Disclosure: Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at El Paso have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Sami Sparber contributed to this report.

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