Republicans have aired more than 14,000 midterm campaign ads centered around touting hardline immigration stances, USA Today reports — making immigration the second most featured issue in campaigns, behind pro-Trump language.
Why it matters: This is a big change from 2014, when immigration did not even make the list of top 10 issues Republicans spent ad money on. On the hill, immigration is dividing the Republican party. Moderates are more open to finding any solution possible to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship, while hardliners refuse to back down from their list of immigration policy changes, which would lower legal immigration levels.
In just the last month, three republican lawmakers have said they don't believe in President Trump as a role model for the youth of the United States.
The big picture: Republicans have been critical of Trump's policies in the past, but now they're beginning to question his personal behavior and fitness for office.
Images of young boys behind chainlink fences and a report that the government lost track of almost 1,500 minors have sparked outrage over the U.S.'s treatment of child immigrants, but some criticism has missed the mark.
Data: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, fiscal years 2012-16, 2017, and 2018; Chart: Harry Stevens/Axios
Between the lines: There are three unrelated concerns. But only one — the separation of children from their parents — is a trend that began with the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
Mitt Romney said he would not point to President Trump as "a role model for my grandkids," in an interview with NBC News, because he has "departed from the truth" and attacked the press on multiple occasions.
Flashback: This is not the first time Romney has given a harsh rebuke of Trump. In 2016 while the president was on the campaign trail, Romney called the president a "phony" and a "fraud." The Utah Senate candidate has taken a more measured approach to criticizing Trump in the time since.
The long weekend was a busy period for news about ZTE. Lawmakers from both parties rebelled against a deal to save China's second-largest telecom manufacturer that President Trump announced on Twitter Friday.
Meanwhile: Chinese tech giant Tencent said it aimed to reduce China's dependence on U.S.-made components, and President Trump announced plans for new trade restrictions against China.
The Health and Human Services Department responded last night to the swelling firestorm over the number of undocumented children the agency has been unable to locate, saying that the children in question are "not 'lost.'"
The issue: HHS testified last month that it was unsure of the whereabouts of 1,475 children — out of a survey of 7,000 — who were found alone at the U.S. border and placed with sponsors inside the U.S. (The Washington Post has a helpful explainer.)
Rep. Tom Garrett of Virginia announced Monday that he is an alcoholic and won't run for re-election, just days after a Politico report on his treatment of staff. In a statement, the Virginia Republican denied the staff treatment allegations.
Why it matters: Garrett's exit from the race moves his district from a "Likely R to Leans R," tweeted election analyst Kyle Konkik.
Why it matters: This comes as the administration is heightening crack down on migrants crossing the border, including the separation of families. Reports about the unaccounted minors have also raised concerns that they could be in the hands of human traffickers or being used as laborers by people who posed as relatives.
