Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) will introduce the "Protect Kids and Parents Act" this week, his office announced Monday — the first Republican bill to directly address family migration separation — as global outrage over the Trump administration's policy escalates.
Between the lines: The bill would outlaw the separation of families who cross the border illegally unless there is aggravated criminal activity or potential harm to the child. It would also double the number of immigration judges at the border, authorize new shelters for families, and speed up the asylum adjudication process. Meanwhile, the Texas senator faces re-election in November, and his biggest challenger has far surpassed fundraising expectations.
Why it matters: This is a rebuke of Kobach, who helped fuel Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that millions of fraudulent votes had cost him the popular vote in 2016. Kobach, a Republican, claimed that the Kansas policy was intended to curb voter fraud, but his commission failed to provide concrete evidence of it doing so. The court said the law is unconstitutional and violates the National Voter Registration Act.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen doubled down Monday on her defense of the Trump administration's extremely controversial policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border, and put the onus on Congress to take action.
“Congress and the courts created this problem and Congress alone can fix it."
The clock is ticking as German Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to save her ruling coalition and stave off a political crisis in Europe by forging an immigration deal.
The bigger picture: Italy’s new populist government sent a chill around Europe last week by turning away a boat filled with hundreds of rescued migrants. Rome is demanding the rest of Europe share the burden, but several European leaders have staked their political fortunes on keeping migrants out. Germany finds itself at the heart of this divide, and it’s unclear whether the center can hold.
A secret audio recording, obtained by ProPublica, captures the desperate screams from several Central American migrant children who were separated from their parents last week, while a border patrol agent jokes that their cries sound like an "orchestra."
Why it matters: The children's repeated cries for their "Mami" and "Papa" add a vivid dimension to the hotly-contested policy debate that has created a sharp divide in Washington.
A Quinnipiac poll shows that 66% of voters oppose the Trump's administration separating immigrant children from their parents, and 79% support DACA recipients staying in the country and applying for citizenship.
Why it matters: Republicans running for Congress are already facing tough odds at keeping control of the House. The growing opposition to immigration policies under President Trump and his party could hurt them in November.
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed on Monday that the watchdog is looking at potential mishandling of confidential information by former FBI director James Comey in his leaking of memos and that the OIG will "issue a report when the matter is complete," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The big picture: President Trump has accused Comey of wrongfully disclosing confidential information when he leaked the memos about his interactions with Trump, which fueled the Mueller investigation and accusations of obstruction of justice. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that some of the information in the memos was classified, and now Horowitz is confirming those suspicious.
Former First lady Michelle Obama, in addition to the Clintons and the Bushes, has become the latest occupant of the White House to rebuke the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy that separates children from their parents at the border.
Yes, but a defiant President Trump and his Cabinet are refusing to publicly back down from their intensely controversial policy, which has further polarized the already divisive immigration debate in the nation’s capital.
President Trump said "the United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility" under his administration while speaking about the future of U.S. space policy Monday.
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said that President Trump should end his administration's "zero tolerance" border policy separating children from their families in an interview with CNN this morning.
What he said: "He’s gotta step in there, and he’s gotta end this thing because I think it’s an atrocious policy. It’s inhumane, it’s offensive to the average American — and when you think about American values, it does not represent American values."
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the Trump administration's controversial "zero tolerance" border policy that criminally prosecutes every adult illegally crossing the border — a move that has separated almost 2,000 children from their parents — during remarks at the National Sheriffs' Association conference Monday morning.
The big picture: Nielsen said that Border Patrol officers are enforcing laws passed by Congress, adding that Americans shouldn't "believe the press" when it comes to the treatment of minors. (Enforcing the family separation policy is not a law and is solely the Trump administration's decision.) Commenting on the policy, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said, "If you don’t want your child separated, then don’t bring them across the border illegally."
President Trump's family separation policy for illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has sparked public outrage among Republican lawmakers.
Why it matters: This wave of Republican rejection puts the Trump administration in a difficult position as House Republicans consider two immigration bills this week — one of which would address the issue, but would likely need Trump's support to be successful.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel bought herself two weeks to reach a deal with other European countries on immigration, after demands from Interior Minister Horst Seehofer that migrants who have been registered as asylum-seekers in other countries be turned away had her coalition on the brink of collapse.
Across the pond: President Trump tweeted, "The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition... Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"
"Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets," AP's Nomaan Merchant reports from McAllen, Texas.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — dividing his time between D.C. and Italy, where Callista Gingrich is U.S. ambassador to the Holy See — on why he thinks Republicans still have a 60% chance of keeping the House.
The big picture: "What people have to watch carefully for is Trump may be in the process of building a performance model rather than a behavior model. People shrug off the behavior."
Confronted by daily images of families being traumatized at the border, Republican lawmakers plan to increase pressure on President Trump to roll back a "zero tolerance" immigration policy resulting in parents being separated from children, GOP sources tell Axios.
Be smart: We know that Trump is responsive to traumatic images (including kids being gassed in Syria), and he's acutely attuned to how issues play in the media. So some well-wired Republicans think he may eventually find a way to change the policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
"I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart."
The big picture: Bush isn't the only first lady to sound off on the policy. Earlier today, First Lady Melania Trump wrote, via her spokeswoman, that the United States needs "to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart."
More than 600 migrants who were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast arrived in Spain Sunday on three ships — a week after Italy’s new populist, right-wing government and Malta blocked the vessels from docking on their shores.
Why it matters: The refusal by both countries to aid the asylum seekers and Italy's insinuation that the group was an "army of fake refugees" have exacerbated Europe’s latest battle over immigration, triggering strong reactions from humanitarian aid groups and other European countries.
