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By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The picture of who will be in charge of executing President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration and border policies has come into sharper focus after he announced his picks to head Customs and Border Protection and also the agency tasked with deporting immigrants in the country illegally. Trump said late Thursday he was tapping Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol chief who’s been a vocal supporter of tougher enforcement measures, for CBP commissioner. As acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump said he’d nominate Caleb Vitello, a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency who most recently has been the assistant director for firearms and tactical programs. They will work with an immigration leadership team that includes South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security ; former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Tom Homan as border czar ; and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Scott led during Trump’s first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country’s borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he joined the agency, San Diego was by far the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Traffic plummeted after the government dramatically increased enforcement there, but critics note the effort pushed people to remote parts of California and Arizona. San Diego was also where wall construction began in the 1990s, which shaped Scott’s belief that barriers work. He was named San Diego sector chief in 2017. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump’s policies. “He’s well known. He does know these issues and obviously is trusted by the administration,” said Gil Kerlikowske, the CBP commissioner under the Obama administration. Kerlikowske took issue with some of Scott’s past actions, including his refusal to fall in line with a Biden administration directive to stop using terms like “illegal alien” in favor of descriptions like “migrant,” and his decision as San Diego sector chief to fire tear gas into Mexico to disperse protesters. “You don’t launch projectiles into a foreign country,” Kerlikowske said. At the time Scott defended the agents’ decisions , saying they were being assaulted by “a hail of rocks.” While much of the focus of Trump’s administration may be on illegal immigration and security along the U.S.-Mexico border, Kerlikowske also stressed the importance of other parts of Customs and Border Protection’s mission. The agency is responsible for securing trade and international travel at airports, ports and land crossings around the country. Whoever runs the agency has to make sure that billions of dollars worth of trade and millions of passengers move swiftly and safely into and out of the country. And if Trump makes good on promises to ratchet up tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, CBP will play an integral role in enforcing them. “There’s a huge amount of other responsibility on trade, on tourism, on cyber that take a significant amount of time and have a huge impact on the economy if it’s not done right,” Kerlikowske said. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. He has appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He’s also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, he advocated for a return to Trump-era immigration policies and more pressure on Mexico to enforce immigration on its side of the border.
Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in First Financial Bankshares, Inc. ( NASDAQ:FFIN – Free Report ) by 27.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,553 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 53,195 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.18% of First Financial Bankshares worth $9,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 84,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 4,736 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in First Financial Bankshares during the second quarter valued at $29,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in First Financial Bankshares by 480.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 32,774 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in First Financial Bankshares by 3.0% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 29,297 shares of the bank’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 6.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. 69.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bankshares In other news, Director Michael B. Denny sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.12, for a total transaction of $287,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 101,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,156,615.20. This represents a 6.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . 4.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders. First Financial Bankshares Stock Performance First Financial Bankshares ( NASDAQ:FFIN – Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39. The firm had revenue of $142.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.25 million. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, research analysts predict that First Financial Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year. First Financial Bankshares Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. First Financial Bankshares’s payout ratio is 49.66%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently issued reports on FFIN. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $34.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on First Financial Bankshares from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on FFIN First Financial Bankshares Company Profile ( Free Report ) First Financial Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for First Financial Bankshares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Financial Bankshares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
NoneWe regularly answer frequently asked questions about life in the era of COVID-19. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Coronavirus Questions." See an archive of our FAQs here. I just never got the latest COVID booster. Should I go for it? And when should I get it for maximum holiday protection when traveling and partying? If you're among those who haven't rolled up a sleeve for the latest version of the vaccine — which rolled out in September — you've got plenty of company. A December 2 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that in the U.S., for example, just under 20% of eligible people have gotten the updated vaccine, which was formulated to include a strain of the original virus and one from recently circulating variants. "That uptake is nowhere near where it should be," says Dr. Robert Hopkins, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. And who's eligible? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, everyone 6 months and older. You may be wondering: Do I really need it if I'm in good health? Data shows that COVID vaccines are protective against severe disease and long COVID, reducing the risk of an emergency room or clinic visit — and the risk of death. Plus, "potentially preventing any COVID infection keeps you from being sick, getting long COVID and making someone sick who could really be at risk," says Jeffrey Townsend, a professor of evolutionary biology and head of a lab at the Yale School of Public Health that has been studying COVID throughout the pandemic. But maybe you've just had COVID...And you're wondering. Isn't that giving me enough protection? Just as protection from the COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time, so does immunity after an infection.. If you're ready to go for a jab, you might have a few questions. Like: Which of the three available vaccines to go for? There are MRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna and a non- MRNA version from Novavax. (mRNA vaccines use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein — or even just a piece of a protein — that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. The Novavax vaccine is based on an older technology. "Between the two mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, there is no reason to get one over the other," says Andrew Pekosz, vice chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "The [MRNA vaccines] target the same variant, are similarly effective and elicit similar side effects." Pekosz adds that the Novavax protein-based vaccine will also "generate immune responses that recognize current variants," noting adding that people who have had a particularly adverse response to a previous mRNA vaccine might consider the Novavax vaccine as an alternative, as protein-based vaccines generally don't induce as strong side effects. As for timing, if you'd like maximum protection for end-of-year travel and partying, keep in mind that it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to be fully effective. And while COVID isn't surging at the moment in the U.S. and other places, Dr. Hopkins says winter outbreaks are expected — a winter surge has always been part of COVID's timetable. Meanwhile, if you've had a recent COVID infection you have a different vaccine timeline. Because you develop antibodies to the virus after a COVID infection, the CDC says people "may wait" three months after an infection to get the vaccine. That's because the immune response to the new dose will be strongest if your antibodies are waning. There's a new study that looks at vaccine timing. The study is geared toward a future time when COVID has a clear season where it regularly peaks (as flu does), but it does contain relevant info on so-called "breakthrough" infections — when you catch COVID soon after being vaccinated. In the study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases , study author Jeffrey Townsend and his team recommend a timetable: for someone who got a booster in September, then caught COVID between October and April. The optimal time for the next dose is the following mid-to-late September. For breakthrough infections between mid-May and early September, the wait time before the next booster falls to six months because of the likelihood of a winter outbreak. Townsend says the study's recommendations are different than the CDC's because the agency looked at when antibodies begin to fall, and the study looked at when antibodies fall to the level where you'd be vulnerable to reinfection. But the study does not offer official guidance so a conversation with your doctor might be in order. "Many of my colleagues have discussed that timing of vaccination relative to infection is something we need to be taking into account more," says Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease researcher at Stanford Medical School. He advises people to test if they have COVID symptoms in part so they can fine tune their vaccine schedule. "Doctors have to take into consideration what's unique to the patient in front of them," says Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health For example, people who are immunocompromised may be advised to boost more frequently since their antibodies can wane faster. And people who are 65 and older have been advised by the CDC to get a second dose of the new booster six months after the first. Of course, even having a debate over whether to get an updated vaccine is a rich world problem. Rachel Weintraub, an associate professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School says that while most countries haven't reported their uptake of booster doses, the educated guess is that boosters are not widely available in low- or middle-income countries. For one thing, COVAX, the program that deployed vaccines in lower- and middle-income countries, closed up shop at the end of 2023. "In many countries," says Weintraub, the COVID vaccine shifted into the regular immunization program with some countries choosing to prioritize vaccines for other conditions." Weintraub says that when COVAX closed, only 57% of eligible folks had received two doses in low- and middle-income countries, compared to a global average of 67%. And even in the U.S. there's no guarantee that the supply of boosters or messaging to promote them will continue. Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of the Global Health & HIV Policy Program at health research group KFF, says the next administration "has significant authority to affect both the availability of COVID vaccines and messaging about their importance, authority that will undoubtedly influence individual behavior and state and local decisions." Kates says the FDA Commissioner has the authority to approve and authorize new formulations of COVID vaccines and the CDC Director has the authority to set recommendations for the public. "Messaging around vaccines is an important [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] function, and the frequency, cadence, content, and channels of such messaging will set the scene for how vaccines are received by the public." And while doctors' offices often no longer stock COVID vaccines, says Rebecca Weintraub, many pharmacies do, and you can often schedule an appointment on line. If you are insured, your insurance will cover the cost so long as the pharmacy or doctor is in network. No insurance? Call your local health department to ask about free or low-cost options. (Without insurance the cost is over $200 — the federal government no longer covers the cost for everyone as it did at the height of the pandemic.) Fran Kritz is a health policy reporter based in Washington, D.C., and a regular contributor to NPR. She also reports for the Washington Post and Verywell Health . Find her on Twitter: @fkritzTeam Canada Adding Canadiens’ Montembeault to 4 Nations Face-Off Roster Isn’t Political
