'He's all I have left': Immigrants crossing into the US are unaware and stunned by family separations. Hundreds of immigrant parents are crossing into the U.S. Without proper authorization, unaware that the process to seek asylum now also includes temporary loss of their child. The separation is a result of the Trump administration's new "Zero tolerance" policy, which entails charging nearly everyone crossing the border without authorization with a federal misdemeanor. By doing so, under law, children entering the USA alongside adults fall under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's care while those criminal cases are pursued. Ref. USAToday.
There are rumors that Trump is getting so much backlash over the way we are handling children at the border that they are now in the process of changing things around despite all the rhetoric and puffing of chests.
International Level: Politics 101 / Political Participation: 9 0.9%
President Trump signs executive order on immigration, but says 'zero tolerance' will continue. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on immigration that he said ends family separations at the border, but insisted his controversial "Zero tolerance" policy will continue. "We're going to have strong, very strong borders, but we're going to keep the families together," Trump said. "I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated." Ref. USAToday.
Supreme Court upholds President Trump’s immigration travel ban against predominantly Muslim countries. The ruling reverses a series of lower court decisions that had struck down the ban as Illegal or unconstitutional. It hands a major victory to President Trump, who initiated the battle to ban travelers a week after assuming office last year. It was a defeat for Hawaii and other states that had challenged the action, as well as immigration rights groups. Trump repeatedly said in the 2016 campaign he specifically wanted to ban Muslims. Ref. USAToday.
Federal judge denies Trump administration effort to block California's 'sanctuary' law. A federal judge refused Thursday to block California from restricting local law enforcement cooperation with immigration agents, an early legal victory for the state’s “sanctuary” law. Source 6c.