Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other goings-on in the United States, Latin America, and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
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- Election Day is today and millions of voters are expected to cast their ballots in person, although nearly 100 million Americans already voted early or by mail. It could take several days to count all of the ballots applicable to the race, but several toss-up states could call their own results throughout the night. [NYT]
- The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association reported on Monday that more than 61,000 children in the U.S. were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last week, hitting a grim record and the highest number of infections among children during the whole pandemic. In total, 853,635 children have contracted the virus this year. [NBC Latino]
- Asylum seekers with disabilities have filed a class action lawsuit that includes more than 22 individual plaintiffs challenging the Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” policy. The lawsuit points out that the government isn’t following official U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidelines that stipulate that anyone with “known physical/mental health issues are exempt from Trump’s immigration protocols, which in this case keep asylum seekers in Mexico while they await for immigration proceedings. [TIME]
- Marc Anthony joined forces with the Republican-led Lincoln Project to speak out against Trump. In an ad, he called out Trump’s mishandling of Hurricane Maria and urged people to “vote him out.” [Mitu]
- Hurricane Eta has quickly intensified and upgraded to a Category 5 storm as it gets closer to making landfall in Nicaragua today. The Hurricane Center is warning that Eta could result in “catastrophic wind damage” with a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening storm surge” that could lead to disastrous flooding. [NYT]
- According to the NALEO Educational Fund, Latinos have voted in record numbers compared to 2016. The organization’s data estimates that 8.2 million Latinos had already voted by October 31 (double the number of people who had voted by the same time in 2016) and projects 14.6 million Latinos will cast their ballots by the end of the election. [Latino Rebels]
- Obama and singer Luis Fonsi teamed up for a closeout rally in South Florida just before Election Day, urging voters to turn out for Biden and clarifying misinformation that has run rampant in Latino communities regarding his campaign. Obama, in particular, tackled false charges that Biden is a socialist. [NBC Latino]
