Protections For Undocumented Spouses, Extreme Heat Designation, Putin in North Korea

The Biden administration is about to announce a plan that would protect hundreds of thousands of people in the U.

This is not some sort of blanket amnesty.

So, who will qualify for the new program?

I'm a Martinez that's Leila Fadl, and this is up first from NPR News.

And as temperatures rise across the U.

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President Biden is set to announce a plan to protect hundreds of thousands of people who are living in the U.

The plan will apply to the spouses of American citizens and will offer a pathway to legal residency. And it comes just a couple of weeks after the Biden administration issued a directive to restrict asylum claims at the southern border.

NPR's immigration correspondent Sergio Martinez Beltran joins us with more Good morning.

Hi, good morning.

So what is this new plan exactly?

Yeah, so it is centered around a program called Parole in Place. That's the mechanism the Biden administration is using to provide relief to about 500,000 migrants already in the country. Without authorization, but who have been married to a U.S citizen, the parole in place would prevent them from being deported. They'd also get a work permit and a three years to apply for permanent residency.

So what does this mean for people who would benefit from this new plan?

I mean, I think about people like Alejandro Paz Medrano, who lives in Pennsylvania. He's originally from Mexico and has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years. Eight of those while married to his wife, Erin, a U.S. citizen.

Wow. What other criteria do people need to meet in order to qualify?

So they must have lived in the U.

This is not some sort of blanket amnesty that's just going to automatically, overnight, convert a whole bunch of people into residents or citizens.

And, to her point, according to the plan, people who have been deported and are back in the U.

And when will this plan be implemented?

So the Biden administration, Leila, says, they hope to have the program in place by the end of the summer.

Where does this new plan fit into President Biden's broader approach to immigration during the election? Which so far has seemed to go the opposite direction of this plan? Much more restrictive?

Right, I mean. Today's policy is the latest in a string of recent announcements related to rules or policies aiming to curb the high number of unauthorized crossings at the southern border. He severely restricted asylum. He's expedited the removal of migrants who are in the country illegally, and that has prompted backlash from immigrant rights groups who in the past have supported him.

NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran Thank you so much for your reporting.

You're welcome.

Millions of people in the Midwest and the Northeast are bracing for the first big heat wave of the summer.

And as they do. A coalition of environmental, labor and health professionals are petitioning the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA to treat extreme heat as a major disaster. A designation that would help states and communities access funding and support.

Alejandra Barunda, from NPR's Climate Desk, is here to talk about it all. Alejandra, good morning.

Good morning.

So why doesn't FEMA consider heat a disaster already?

So to get FEMA's help, a state needs to ask for a presidentially declared disaster, and not all disasters qualify. There's a law called the Stafford Act that authorizes FEMA's activities, and it has an example list. Earthquakes and hurricanes are on it, heat is not.

And why hasn't it ever happened?

Well, so only a few states have ever asked for that disaster declaration for heat, Illinois did, for example, after the 1995 heat wave that killed hundreds of people in Chicago. But so far, states have all been told no. That's because FEMA thought the destruction wasn't so overwhelming that the states couldn't handle it themselves. Juanita Constable puts it this way.

After a hurricane, after a big storm, there's devastation galore, there's power lines down and buildings destroyed and entire businesses just blown away with heat. On the other hand, most of the people that are hurt are essentially invisible to decision makers. They die alone in their homes, they are unhoused and start dying on the street.

We actually know that heat is killing many more people than disasters like hurricanes. It just hasn't inspired the same urgent response.

I mean, that's so sad, they're just forgotten. It sounds like, from what she was saying, what is this coalition asking FEMA to do?

They want FEMA to include extreme heat and wildfire smoke in the Stafford Act that would help the agency use its considerable powers and money. With these disasters, FEMA has actually indicated that they're interested in responding to heat, and they don't even technically need to update the language under the right circumstances. A state asks for help, the president declares an emergency. FEMA sees a big enough need they could actually step in now.

And what support could FEMA provide in an extreme heat disaster?

Well, FEMA could set up cooling centers or water stations, or send in extra medical personnel. They also fund long-term resilience and recovery efforts, that could mean setting up permanent resilience hubs or developing other infrastructure to make cities cooler. FEMA also directs money toward people hurt by disasters. Here's a big issue.

They're not turning on their air conditioning because they're afraid of the electricity bill.

That decision to not turn on the A.

And what has FEMA said about the role it could play when it comes to extreme heat?

FEMA administrators have said recently that they know they have a role in extreme heat response and they're open to the idea. But it's really new ground for them, so everyone is figuring it out on the fly.

RIMPR's Alejandra Barunda Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a rare trip to North Korea today for a two-day state visit.

And he's expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un amid growing international concern over their military cooperation.

Joining us to talk about all this, we've got NPR's Charles Mains from Moscow, Good morning.

Good morning.

So set this trip up for us. What can we expect?

Well, you know, this isn't Putin's first trip to North Korea, but it certainly has been a while. Twenty-four years, in fact, since he last stepped foot in Pyongyang. And that was with the previous generation of North Korean leadership, Kim Jong-il Nearly a quarter century later, Putin will meet with Kim's son, Kim Jong-un. As you mentioned, Putin arrives in North Korea this evening, but the bulk of the talks actually happen Wednesday.

Why are we seeing this growing alliance now? I mean, what do they have to offer to each other?

Well, as to why now, the short answer is Ukraine. Russia's invasion of its neighbor really changed the dynamics of the relationship with North Korea. They now have a shared struggle against the U.S. In particular, Kim has wholly endorsed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it a sacred struggle against Western imperialism.

So how nervous are Western nations seeing this closer relationship?

Well, they're nervous, I mean, there's no question, for example, that North Korea's mass stores of munitions could really influence Russia's war effort in Ukraine. So that's a concern, but it's one that also exposes an interesting new dynamic here. That Russia needs North Korea to a degree politically, but more importantly militarily, and that's put North Korea in a unique position for a Pariah state.

NPR's Charles Maines in Moscow, Thank you, Charles.

Thank you.

And that's a first for Tuesday, June 18th. I'm Laila Faldan.

And I'm Amy Martinez. How about giving consider this from NPR a listen. U.S Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the mental health crisis among young people is an emergency. And he blames social media could adding a surgeon general warning label to social media make a difference.

And today's episode of Up First was edited by Alfredo Carbajal, Nick Spicer, Sadie Babitz, Lisa Thompson and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Chris Thomas and Taylor Haney. And we get engineering support from Carly Strange. Our technical director is Zach Coleman. Join us again tomorrow.

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