May 23, 2019

Joe Biden on migrant kids who died in U.S. custody: "It's not who we are"

In a tweet on Thursday, Joe Biden mourned the 6th migrant child who died in September while detained in U.S. custody:

"Over the last year, six children have tragically died in US custody at the border. It’s unacceptable. It’s not who we are. And silence is complicity. It’s on all of us to stand up and speak out. America is a nation of immigrants. We must guarantee everyone's treated with dignity."

The big picture: Biden and many other 2020 Democratic candidates have condemned the Trump administration's policies and handlings of the border crisis. Biden has consistently run on attacking Trump's divisive rhetoric on immigration and white supremacy.

Details:

On Monday, Customs and Border Protection confirmed 16-year-old Carlos Hernandez Vásquez from Guatemala died of influenza while detained by the Border Patrol in south Texas.
On May 14, an unidentified 2-year-old Guatemalan boy died of a severe case of pneumonia after he was apprehended, per the Washington Post.
In April, 16-year-old Juan de León Gutiérrez from Guatemala died in a Texas hospital after being apprehended crossing the border.
In December, 8-year-old migrant Felipe Gomez Alonzo from Guatemala died after developing the flu.
In December, 7-year-old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin from Guatemala died of sepsis.
The death of a 10-year-old girl from El Salvador in September was disclosed on Wednesday for the first time. She had a history of medical problems and was hospitalized for months until her death.

Go deeper: On the scene: The Pentagon commits to the border crisis

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David Nather

Bernie's historic Jewish fight

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Sen. Bernie Sanders would be the first Jewish presidential nominee of a major American political party — but that history-making possibility is being overshadowed by his conflicts with America's Jewish leaders and Israel's leadership.

The big picture: That's partly because we're all focusing on the implications of Democrats nominating a self-described democratic socialist. It's also because a candidate's religion no longer seems to matter as much to voters or the media, making the potential milestone of a Jewish nominee more of a non-event.

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Eileen Drage O'Reilly

Coronavirus "infodemic" threatens world's health institutions

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak is being matched, or even outrun, by the spread on social media of both unintentional misinformation about it and vociferous campaigns of malicious disinformation, experts tell Axios.

Why it matters: The tide of bad information is undermining trust in governments, global health organizations, nonprofits and scientists — the very institutions that many believe are needed to organize a global response to what may be turning into a pandemic.

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Caitlin Owens

America's addiction treatment misses the mark

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Addiction treatment in the U.S. is critically necessary yet deeply flawed.

The big picture: Drug overdoses kill tens of thousands of Americans a year, but treatment is often inaccessible. The industry is also riddled with subpar care and, in some cases, fraud.

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