| When a Southern California community hospital and health clinic terminated second-year resident Helen Muradyan last month, it wasn't a decision either side wanted. "At one point we were operating at 150 percent of capacity," Muradyan told columnist Catherine Rampell. "We worked day, night. We worked without breaks or anything, without seeing our loved ones, without seeing our family." But Muradyan is an immigrant, and when her work permit expired, months after she filed with the federal government to renew it, the hospital had no choice but to let her go. Most immigration debates of recent years have focused on the Trump administration's efforts to reduce the number of people entering the country, whether legally or illegally. "But the labor force is also losing immigrants already here legally," Rampell writes, "whose work permits are expiring because the Biden administration hasn't gotten its act together." The result is staffing shortages in key industries and thousands of lives upended while applications are stuck in government purgatory. Permit renewals, which once took two to three months, now can take as long as a year. This past summer, the backlog in applications hit 1.4 million — twice pre-pandemic levels, and three times the total before Donald Trump took office. As Rampell shows, "The Biden administration has reversed many Trump-era policies" on immigration, but much more can still be done.  (Amanda Lopez for The Washington Post) Immigrants here and working legally are being forced out of the labor market because of bureaucratic delays. By Catherine Rampell ● Read more » | | | | The British singer's transformation is a reminder that women are still locked in the beauty myth. By Susanna Schrobsdorff ● Read more » | | | | After a rocky few months, Biden seizes back some authority to do the right thing, no matter bickering on the left and right. By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | They say no news is good news. But we know some news is good news — and we'd like your help calling attention to it. Reader Submission ● Read more » | | | A new wave of covid-19 is gathering strength. By Eugene Robinson ● Read more » | | | | Legal precedent and settled constitutional principles militate strongly against his claims. By Peter Keisler, Stuart Gerson and Alan Raul ● Read more » | | | | If it makes the tax system more effective and fair, it could start to restore faith in government. By Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | | When people outside the state ask me about Sen. John N. Kennedy (R-La.), I tell them he's not the folksy bumpkin you see on TV, but a wealthy, well-educated attorney with an Oxford degree. By Robert Mann ● Read more » | | | | We are at serious risk of a right-wing insurgency in America. It may have already started. By Max Boot ● Read more » | | | | A ranked-choice nomination convention paved the way for the party's statewide wins. By Mark J. Rozell ● Read more » | | | The trial captured perfectly the rituals of denial and self-deception that define how Americans deal with race. By Eddie S. Glaude Jr. ● Read more » | | | | Imagine if every political protest featured a bunch of insecure men toting AR-15s. By Paul Waldman ● Read more » | | | | How to sell a complicated agenda? Short, clear and repetitive messages. By Jennifer Rubin ● Read more » | | | | Time for a serious reckoning with the right wing's ongoing flirtation with political violence. By Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | |
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