So were the votes on abortion, weapons, marijuana and minimum wage 2:12
(CNN Spanish) --
This year was full of tensions in Washington.
For one, it accomplished a civil rights feat that seemed impossible just a few years ago: federal recognition and protection of same-sex and interracial marriages.
However, this law was enacted after the Supreme Court held that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to access abortion.
On other matters: As President Joe Biden tries to push through the challenged student loan forgiveness program, his administration is grappling with a growing crisis on the southern border.
Here are some of the biggest political stories of 2022:
Immigration crisis on the southern border
Migrants line up near the border wall after crossing the Rio Grande to turn themselves in to US Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on December 13, 2022. Credit : Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters
Thousands of migrants heading to border cities decide to wait for the Trump-era pandemic policy to be lifted or cross into the United States illegally.
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Approximately 22,000 migrants are waiting in three cities in northern Mexico, and that number is expected to rise as Title 42 is enforced — a pandemic-era rule that allows US border agents to immediately turn away migrants. immigrants who cross the southern border illegally—remains in legal limbo.
In turn, about 1.6 million asylum applications are pending in the immigration courts of the United States and in the Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), the largest number ever recorded, according to the Federal data analysis conducted by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
In light of the expected completion of Title 42, the Biden Administration unveiled a six-pillar plan from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that includes increasing resources on the southern border;
increase efficiency in processing;
impose consequences on those who enter the country illegally;
strengthen the facilities of non-profit organizations;
go after human traffickers;
and collaborate with international partners.
Under the six-pillar plan, CBP now spends 30% less time processing immigrants than it did early last year, which will help alleviate congestion at agency facilities.
As the agency expects an increase in migrants after the end of Title 42, it plans to impose legal consequences on those who cross irregularly and do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States, the plan says.
Officials have already been dealing with thousands of migrants crossing the border daily and expect those numbers to rise in the coming days and weeks, overwhelming already depleted resources.
Some 22,000 migrants wait in shelters and makeshift camps in three cities in Mexico for Title 42 to be lifted
Same-sex marriage
President Joe Biden signed the federal law "Respect Marriage Act" in December that establishes new protections for same-sex and interracial couples, thus culminating a personal and national evolution on an issue that has enjoyed increasing acceptance in the last decade. .
The new law officially annuls the Defense of Marriage Law, which defined marriage between a man and a woman.
Requires states to honor the validity of marriage licenses from other states, including gay and interracial unions.
The bill passed the House of Representatives with the support of 39 Republicans who joined Democrats, after passing the Senate with the support of 12 Republican senators.
And while the bill would not establish a national requirement that all states must legalize same-sex marriage, it would require individual states to recognize another state's legal marriage.
In the event the Supreme Court overturns the 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage, a state could continue to pass a law to ban same-sex marriage, but that state too would be required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state.
The Supreme Court's decision in June to declare that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to abortion immediately sparked controversy and criticism from liberal groups, as well as concerns that the court's conservative majority could target intermarriage. of the same sex in the future.
In which countries is same-sex marriage legal?
Where was it legal first?
The annulment of the Roe vs.
Wade
On Friday, June 24, 2022, the Court decides to annul the Roe vs.
Wade, which had granted women the federal right to abort during the entire pregnancy and defined different levels of state interest to regulate abortion in the second and third trimesters.
The historic decision to rescind a woman's nearly 50-year right to terminate a pregnancy sparked aftershocks that have already changed American life.
Currently, almost half of the states have already passed or will pass laws banning abortion, while others have enacted strict measures to regulate the procedure.
A survey published in October by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reproductive health, shows just how important the June 24 decision has been.
The survey found that among 15 states that were enforcing full or near full abortion bans, nearly two-thirds of clinics that ever provided abortion services, 66 out of 79, were forced to stop offering services.
According to the report, that means nearly 30% of all American women of reproductive age live in states where abortion is unavailable or severely restricted.
The right to abortion was on the ballot in three states.
This is what the voters decided
Student debt forgiveness
Biden's program would offer up to $20,000 in debt relief to millions of eligible borrowers, but the initiative has faced legal challenges since it was announced.
Nearly two weeks ago, the Biden administration began notifying people approved for federal student loan forgiveness.
About 26 million people had already applied to the program when it was frozen, prompting the government to stop accepting applications.
No debt has been canceled so far.
In the case now before the Supreme Court, a district court dismissed a challenge brought by a group of states, holding that they could not prove the legal damage necessary to bring the challenge.
In November, the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit struck down and blocked the program.
The program is designed to help borrowers who are at higher risk of delinquency or default.
Once debt cancellation begins, the plan could offer up to $10,000 in student loan debt forgiveness to eligible borrowers making less than $125,000 ($250,000 per household).
Additionally, borrowers who received a Pell Grant may receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness.
Everything you need to know about Biden's student loan forgiveness program
midterm elections
On November 8, the midterm or intermediate legislative elections were held in the United States, which take place every two years to renew a part of Congress.
The Democrats managed to maintain control of the Senate for two more years while the Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives.
And while the Republicans won the majority in the House of Representatives by a smaller margin than they expected, the Republican majority will give them new agenda-setting power when they take control of the chamber in January.
House Republicans will have majority subpoena power and control over powerful committees, and they plan to make investigations into the Biden government a top priority.
On the other hand, retaining control of the Senate is a big boost for Biden for the remaining two years of his first term in the White House.
It means Democrats will have the ability to confirm Biden's judicial nominees and it also means Senate Democrats can reject bills passed by the House and can set their own agenda.
ANALYSIS |
Takeaways from a bleak weekend for Republicans in an election that doesn't end
Alejandra Ramos, Ariane De Vogue, Stephen Collinson, Brenda Goodman, Daniella Diaz, Kristin Wilson, Clare Foran, Priscilla Alvarez, Phil Mattingly, Rosa Flores and CNN's Karol Suárez contributed to this report.
AbortionStudent DebtUS ElectionsImmigrationMarriage Equality