Dec. 21: Immigration court backlog tops 3 million. Texas flies migrants to Chicago after buses thwarted.

Updated: Dec 21, 2023 / 06:12 AM CST

EAGLE PASS, TEXAS – DECEMBER 18: As seen from an aerial view Texas National Guard troops watch over some of more than 1,000 immigrants who had crossed the Rio Grande overnight from Mexico on December 18, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. A surge as many as 12,000 immigrants per day crossing the U.S. southern border has overwhelmed U.S. immigration authorities in recent weeks. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Good morning! It’s Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. Here’s a look at your news across the nation:

1️. Immigration court backlog tops 3M with some getting dates 5 years out

EAGLE PASS, TEXAS – DECEMBER 18: As seen from an aerial view Texas National Guard troops watch over some of more than 1,000 immigrants who had crossed the Rio Grande overnight from Mexico on December 18, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. A surge as many as 12,000 immigrants per day crossing the U.S. southern border has overwhelmed U.S. immigration authorities in recent weeks. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

2. Abbott flew dozens of migrants to Chicago after bus crackdown

FILE - Run by a private firm hired by the city, migrants stay in a makeshift shelter at O'Hare International Airport, Sept. 20, 2023, in Chicago. Five mayors from around the U.S. want a meeting with President Joe Biden to ask for help controlling the continued arrival of large groups of migrants to their cities. The mayors of Denver, Chicago, Houston, New York and Los Angeles say in a letter to Biden that there has been little to no coordination, support or resources and that is leading to a crisis. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File Photo) — FILE – Run by a private firm hired by the city, migrants stay in a makeshift shelter at O’Hare International Airport, Sept. 20, 2023, in Chicago.(AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File Photo)

3. 2% of US land owned by foreigners: USDA

WINTERHAVEN, CALIFORNIA – MAY 26: An aerial view shows a voluntarily fallowed field (BOTTOM R) amid farmland along the long-depleted Colorado River, as it flows between California (R) and Arizona on May 26, 2023 near Winterhaven, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

4. Who are the Houthis, and what are they doing in the Red Sea?

Houthi supporters attend a rally during the seventh anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition’s intervention in Yemen’s war in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, 26 March, 2022. (AP Photo/Abdulsalam Sharhan)

📱 [Trending] this morning

WINTER SOLSTICE: WHAT IS IT AND HOW IS IT CELEBRATED?

On Dec. 21, those in the northern hemisphere will experience the winter solstice and the longest night of the year. Around the world, the solstice will celebrated as the days slowly begin to get longer.

Stockholm, SWEDEN: Julia Phan, 11, stands still while Rose-Marie von Braun (L), and Anne-Marie Soderqvist (R) light candles on her crown of Lucia Queen of Lights and other girls dressed as her maidens stand in the background at the Johannes School in Stockholm 13 December 2005. In the darkest time of the year, near the winter solstice, Swedish tradition bids young girls to act Lucia and her maidens, waiting upon people on their bedside, offering them buns and coffee. Boys dress up like Santa Claus or Saint Staffan. Lucia originally was a Sicilian saint who had suffered martyrdom. AFP PHOTO / JACK MIKRUT (Photo credit should read JACK MIKRUT/AFP via Getty Images)

📅 What we’re watching

🔴 The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week.

🔴 Two officials from a rural Arizona county are scheduled to be arraigned on felony charges for delaying their county’s canvassing of the 2022 general election results.

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