Ted Hesson
@tedhesson
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DC-based immigration reporter @Reuters. Phillies fan, amateur guitarist. Send tips to [email protected].
Washington, D.C.
Joined March 2009
NEWS: The 5th Circuit will allow the Trump administration to transfer $3.6 billion in military construction funds to the border wall, pending an appeal on the merits
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EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is considering imposing entry restrictions at the US-Mexico border to control the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, according to two DHS officials
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Trump paints a picture of a country plagued by crime. Recent stats back him up: Homicides went up by 10% in 2015
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The latest: Mexico is interviewing at least six women who may have been subject to improper hysterectomies at an immigration detention center in the US state of Georgia, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday
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News: A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating TPS for roughly 300,000 people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan
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Mexico says it has formally requested a report from US authorities regarding alleged negligent practices in immigration detention centers, citing accusations of sexual abuse and unauthorized hysterectomies
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Here’s a video of the protesters who disrupted Kevin McAleenan’s speech. McAleenan tried to speak several times and said he hoped to go “above the politics and the daily news cycle.” He eventually left the stage without giving remarks
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Actor John Cusack appears to be walking alongside @repjoecrowley at an Immigration protest outside CBP headquarters
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Update: Biden plans additional executive actions on Jan. 29, including restoring U.S. asylum protections, strengthening refugee processing and setting up a task force to reunify families still separated by Trump’s border policies, according to a memo shared with lawmakers.
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Two U.S. officials told Reuters that Biden was concerned about the political impact of large number of Afghan refugees flowing into the United States and preferred they be sent to third countries.
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NEWS with @viaCristiano: CBP officials have been aware for up to three years that a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents was posting offensive messages — far longer than previously reported
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Some personal news: I’m excited to announce that I’ll be joining Reuters next week as an immigration reporter in the Washington bureau. I’m looking forward to collaborating with their stellar team of journalists in D.C., the U.S. and around the world.
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The move clears the way for the Trump administration to access money that CBP says will built up to 175 miles of border wall in “high-priority locations”.
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Trump win at SCOTUS: The court stayed a ruling that blocked Trump from using $2.5 billion in a Pentagon counter-drug fund for wall construction
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NY AG @Schneiderman says the state will sue if Trump ends DACA, a move that would be "cruel, gratuitous, and devastating"
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Trump will issue an expanded version of his travel ban today. The US will suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria
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NEWS: The United States is considering ways to discourage US travelers from taking cruises as part of a broader Trump administration effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. W/ @davidshepardson and @alexalper
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One former DHS official said staffers in CBP’s public affairs office monitored the Facebook group over the past year “as a source of intelligence” to see “what people are talking about”
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New: House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena that orders HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to provide records related to the handling of unaccompanied migrant children with suspected criminal ties
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A federal judge in DC ruled today that Ken Cuccinelli “was not lawfully appointed to serve as the acting director of USCIS”:. I broke the story last year that the Trump admin created a new position to allow him to run the agency:.
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NEWS: The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to nearly zero. Story on @POLITICOPro:
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Some U.S. border patrol agents are so frustrated with Biden’s border policies that they are considering early retirement, while other disgruntled agents are buying unofficial coins that say “U.S. Welcome Patrol.” W/ @kristinacooke and @micarosenberg:.
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A tweet by acting DHS deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli (@HomelandKen) that suggested the suspect in the New York Hanukkah stabbings is a US citizen who had not assimilated appears to have been deleted or removed
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The concern over containing the virus at the southern U.S. border comes as the Trump administration also weighs possible restrictions on the entry of travelers from South Korea, Italy and Japan.
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The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to implement its public charge rule during the course of litigation. The regulation bars legal immigrants from obtaining green cards if they receive certain government benefits or are deemed likely to do so.
BREAKING: Supreme Court allows Trump administration to implement "public charge" immigration restriction. Vote is 5-4, with conservatives in the majority.
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The three judge panel split 2-1 with Judges Edith Jones (a Reagan appointee) and Andrew Oldham (a Trump appointee) in favor and Judge Stephen Higginson (an Obama appointee) dissenting.
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Homero Zamorano, the alleged driver of the truck in a San Antonio migrant smuggling incident that left 53 dead, was charged in federal court with smuggling migrants in the country illegally in a manner that resulted in death - Reuters News. Link to come.
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A senior DHS official rejected the idea any Portland protesters were arrested without good cause. “Federal officials don’t go around arresting people for no reason. This isn’t communist China.”.
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A federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to expand family detention. Our story here (with more to come from the written order):
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President Biden is expected to allow a Trump-era proclamation that had blocked many temporary foreign workers from coming into the United States to expire on Wednesday. W/ @steveholland1
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.@RepFilemonVela trolls with an amendment that would define "border wall system" based on Trump's promises, including Mexico paying for it
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NEW w/ @JanNWolfe: SCOTUS handed Trump a defeat in his legal showdown with the most-populous U.S. state, declining to hear his administration’s challenge to “sanctuary” laws in California that protect immigrants from deportation. The justices left in place a lower court ruling.
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Protesters over the administration’s family separation policy silently left the room during Kirstjen Nielsen’s opening remarks at a Senate committee hearing on “threats to the homeland”
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The US will grant a one-year TPS extension for El Salvador. That postpones terminating the status for 263,000 people (more than half the program’s enrollees) until after the 2020 election
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Stephen Miller gets more attention, but Francis Cissna is the policy expert quietly reshaping the legal immigration system. My profile in @POLITICOMag:
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DOJ civil rights division in 2014: “Officers wearing name plates while in uniform is a basic component of transparency and accountability … It is a near-universal requirement of sound policing practices”
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The White House on Friday ordered the DHS to draft a range of options to respond to outbreaks in those countries, according to officials. Trump tweeted today that he will hold a press conference at 1:30 pm EST to discuss coronavirus developments.
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US swoops down on Portland protesters after Trump order to protect monuments: videos show camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to transport arrested protesters. w/ @deborahebloom and @dvdwyer:
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The discussions over possible border restrictions remain in the preliminary phase, but the DHS has considered increased screening of people from certain countries based on that country’s medical capacity and volume of travelers to the US, according to one of the officials.
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The DHS watchdog found problems in four detention centers, including unwarranted strip searches and hostility toward detainees. Story on @POLITICOPro
Conditions in 4 ICE detention centers undermined detainee rights, watchdog finds. Details from @tedhesson here:
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Rosemarie Pepperdine is one of the agents considering taking early retirement: ”We have so many people coming across, and then we’re out there killing ourselves to catch them, rescue them or whatever it is, and then they’re being released,” she said. “Why even bother?”.
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A Mexican asylum-seeker slit his own throat on a bridge across the Rio Grande after being denied entry into the United States, according to two Mexican security officials
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Biden's pledge to evacuate thousands more at-risk Afghans who worked for the U.S. government will run into the cold reality of a fast-closing window of time, security issues, and major logistical hurdles. W/ @idreesali114 @JonathanLanday @humeyra_pamuk
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A 41-year-old Detroit man deported to Iraq in June died Tuesday. He was a Chaldean Catholic, the religious group that has been fighting in court to allow members with final orders of removal to remain in the US. Story with @nahaltoosi:
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A federal immigration official who is closely aligned with Stephen Miller suggested setting the refugee cap at zero in the coming year. The move would give Trump a powerful campaign talking point but strand thousands. @politico story here:
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The U.S. government will also stop issuing “diversity visas” to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania, Wolf said. The visas - which Trump has criticized in the past - are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
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Snapshot from Matamoros: “Roberto Manuel wore two shirts, three jackets and four pairs of pants to brace himself for subzero temperatures in Matamoros … where he lives in a flimsy tent while waiting to resolve an asylum claim in the United States”
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WH official Esther Olavarria said recently that Biden will reverse several Trump proclamations. She appeared to reference the April ban on certain green card applicants and June ban on temporary foreign workers. She also referenced a healthcare-related ban
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In at least one part of the southern border, some agents have started calling Biden “Let ’Em Go Joe” - a sign of the internal skepticism Biden and his top officials could face in the coming months and years.
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Saul, 4, wipes the tears of his father Franklin Pajaro, after they were expelled from the U.S. and sent back to Mexico under Title 42, near the Paso del Norte International border bridge, in Ciudad Juarez. REUTERS/@jluisfoto83
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In the backdrop of Trump’s possible “emergency” declaration: CBP quietly posted border stats last week that show overall apprehensions fell nearly 6 percent between December and January
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Nielsen said acting Deputy Secretary Claire Grady (caught in the crossfire over McAleenan’s appointment) has offered to resign.
Acting Deputy Secretary Claire Grady has offered the President her resignation, effective tomorrow. For the last two years, Claire has served @DHSgov w excellence and distinction. She has been an invaluable asset to DHS – a steady force and a knowledgeable voice.
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NEW: The Biden administration has begun flying Central American and Mexican families subject to the Title 42 border policy to southern Mexico in an effort to deter migration
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Biden is also expected on Jan. 29 to end the Migrant Protection Protocols (aka “remain in Mexico”), according to a person familiar with the plan. The latest:.
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NEWS: The incoming Biden administration is considering a plan to shield more than a million immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala from deportation after the countries were battered by hurricanes in November. W/ @Gottesdiener:.
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One DHS official on the new prosecutions policy and family separation: “It’s not clear to me that any of that foundational legal work has been done”
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.@itscaitlinhd and @mirjordan on the coronavirus outbreak at the Smithfield pok factory in Sioux Falls: “For many of the workers, risk is nothing new. They fled war, food insecurity or ethnic persecution to reach the United States”
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SCOOP: The Biden administration is developing a sweeping bill that would revamp the country's asylum system to speed up the resolution of claims in large-scale processing centers at the border with Mexico
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President Trump extended until March 31 a pair of immigration bans that block many “green card” applicants and temporary foreign workers from entering the country. Story:
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I’m back on the @Reuters immigration beat after three busy months of paternity leave. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with people and hearing about what I missed and what’s coming next.
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Belarus, which had been under consideration for inclusion in the expanded travel ban, took steps to remedy deficiencies in recent months and will not face visa restrictions, according to acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf.
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Trump seeks roughly $8 billion for a border wall, per Mulvaney:. $3.6 billion via 10 USC 2808 (tied to nat’l emergency).$2.5 billion via 10 USC 284 (DOD money moved to counter-drug fund).$1.4 billion (FY18 funding bill).$600 million (money from the Treasury forfeiture fund).
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A professor who studies dehumanization unpacks Trump’s “infest” comment: “The attitude that one takes to vermin – to cockroaches, to rats, to infestations of ants – is to exterminate them. That’s what it says”
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Tensions rise within Biden administration as migrant kids crowd shelters. Biden’s top domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, in particular, has pressed HHS staffers on what she sees as an unacceptably slow pace of releases of children to sponsors
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.@MarkSKrikorian says a DACA / border wall funding trade off "would be an epic failure of dealmaking"
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Trump doesn’t mention DACA in his letter to lawmakers. Instead, he pushes to 1) terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement so families can be detained together, and 2) amend the TVPRA to allow unaccompanied minors to be swiftly deported.
NEWS — THE PRESIDENT has sent a letter to members of congress of both parties calling for a border wall. “Walls work. That’s why rich, powerful, and successful people build them around their homes.”
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Trump calls some DACA recipients “very tough, hardened criminals.” While anyone can commit a crime, that’s incorrect. The DACA program bars people with serious criminal convictions
Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from “angels.” Some are very tough, hardened criminals. President Obama said he had no legal right to sign order, but would anyway. If Supreme Court remedies with overturn, a deal will be made with Dems for them to stay!.
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The previously undisclosed Mattis letter we published yesterday shows that he pushed behind the scenes last year to preserve a refugee cap of 45,000 people. Trump (on Pompeo’s recommendation) ultimately cut levels to 30,000 – the lowest cap on record
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Good story @maddow, but not breaking. I reported it a week ago in @ProMorningShift (and linked to the documents)
BREAKING: Document shows Trump admin took $10 million from FEMA, gave it to ICE for detentions, ahead of 2018 hurricane season.
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Trump legal defeat: A panel of judges in New York declared unlawful a recent Trump directive to exclude people who are in the country illegally from representation when apportioning congressional seats
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I started paternity leave earlier this month and will be on full-time baby duty until late November. If you have any immigration-related tips or ideas, please reach out to @micarosenberg or @kristinacooke. Thanks to @Reuters for this important benefit. See you in a few months!.
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DC-based Judge Emmet Sullivan blocked expulsions of unaccompanied children caught crossing into the US - the latest legal setback for Trump as the clock ticks on his administration
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Trump has demanded 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents. But the reality is that the agency is struggling to fill the jobs that it already has available. My latest on the Border Patrol’s recruiting crisis:
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After a year in office, Biden hasn’t delivered on key immigration goals and some top officials are leaving, raising questions about what will happen with planned reforms
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The move combines immigration and health care — two hot-button political issues — in the run-up to the 2020 elections. Most Democratic presidential candidates have said they support providing healthcare to undocumented immigrants.
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The Biden admin formally ended Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy, which forced tens of thousands of Central American asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. court cases. DHS Secretary Mayorkas announced the termination in a memo reviewed by Reuters:
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Many federal medical workers tasked with screening incoming passengers at U.S. airports were working without the most effective masks to protect them from getting sick. Story by @johnshiffman @marisaataylor and @JTanfani:
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Good reporting by @FrancoOrdonez on Jared Kushner’s private immigration meetings in the White House. The talks are reportedly a shift away from the “buy American, hire American” mentality – although that executive order and related policies remain in place
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White House officials are frustrated with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request for military troops to help receive migrants arriving from Texas and Arizona: . "The message and the optics aren't what the White House wants to hear or see from a Democratic mayor"
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UPDATE: Biden’s campaign said on Friday that Biden *would* rescind Trump’s travel ban on Day One of his presidency. The campaign also said Biden would take immediate action to protect DACA recipients.
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President Biden is expected on Friday to issue executive orders on asylum, refugee resettlement and reunification of migrant families, among other issues. Here’s what we know (and what we don’t know):
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Biden’s immigration executive orders had been planned for Friday. But the White House has now pushed back the timeline and it remains unclear when it will take place
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New today: Trump blamed far-left extremist groups for looting and violence, but a DHS intelligence assessment offers limited evidence that organized extremists are behind the turmoil.
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Major tech firms - including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Netflix and Twitter - filed a legal brief today backing a challenge to Trump’s ban on certain temporary foreign workers
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A new U.S. immigration policy set to be announced on Monday will expand access to work permits and deportation relief to some immigrants who are crime victims while their visa cases are pending, according to a summary reviewed by Reuters. More here:
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A coalition of 13 states led by Washington sued today over the public charge rule. They argue it “effects a radical overhaul of federal immigration law transforming a system that promotes economic mobility among immigrants into one that advantages immigrants with wealth”.
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NEW: Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States under a new program launching on Thursday, a step that could bolster admissions and reduce government costs
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If passed, Biden’s immigration bill would be the largest legislative overhaul of the U.S. immigration system since the Reagan administration. But he’ll need Senate Republican support to pass it - and there’s no indication he has that out of gate
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A federal judge temporarily blocked the deportation of two migrants who claim the Trump admin’s new lesson plan for asylum officers makes it harder to prove fear of returning to their home country
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News with @IanKullgren and @anitakumar01: the Trump administration is weighing a plan to cut off asylum for migrants who transited through another country to the US
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Kellyanne Conway avoided getting fired for “egregious and ongoing” violations of the Hatch Act after the Merit Systems Protection Board didn’t have enough sitting members to issue a ruling. The backstory by @RebeccaARainey:
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Great story by @micarosenberg and @kristinacooke about families who could be separated due to Trump’s proclamation temporarily banning some foreign workers.
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Big story today from @ddiamond: HHS burned through at least $40 million in the past two months for the care and reunification of migrant children separated from their families at the border
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Inside Biden’s plan to increase refugee admissions to 62,500 this year
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A new study from MIT and Yale professors estimates there are 22 million undocumented immigrants in the US — double a widely accepted estimate of 11 million. More on @POLITICOPro:
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If El Chapo's extradition was a bargaining chip, it seems strange to spend it now
Mexican law enforcement officials tell me they were surprised with the Chapo news, calling it a "political statement to please Trump".
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Rep. Joe Crowley collapsed at the immigration protest, which moved from CBP to 15th Street near the White House. He stood up and was walked to a nearby hotel. Rep. Espaillat said he’s doing OK and getting cold water.
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A provision offering a path to citizenship to thousands of Liberians is tucked inside the $738 billion defense spending bill the Senate passed this week. Trump has said he’ll sign the bill (which also creates his “Space Force”). More here:
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