The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 87,000 unauthorized immigrants in the month of June, a decline compared to the steep figures reported over the last three months, according to leaked internal Department of Homeland Security data.
Why it matters: The drop enables acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan to tout that the June 7 deal the U.S. struck with Mexico to stem the flow of migration is working — the kind of cover he needs to fend off attacks from prominent Trump allies.
President Trump’s re-election campaign is developing an aggressive, state-by-state plan to mobilize even more evangelical voters than supported him last time, campaign officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Trump captured 81% of the evangelical vote in 2016, a huge accomplishment considering they make up roughly a quarter of the electorate and play a prominent role in swing states like Florida.
2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker addressed his recent criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, arguing that Biden's "inability to talk candidly" about mistakes in his voting record makes it difficult to see him uniting the country as the Democratic nominee.
Several Democratic presidential candidates defended fellow 2020 contender Sen. Kamala Harris on Saturday against false online accusations about her race and U.S. citizenship — with many calling the attacks racist.
The big picture: A social media researcher, cited in the NYT and BuzzFeed, aggregated at least 12 tweets questioning Harris' race during the first Democratic primary debate, saying "it has all the signs of being a coordinated/artificial operation." Gary Wilmot, a self-described "birther" conspiracy theorist, made accusations about Harris' race in 2017 — sentiments shared by the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website.
Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday that a thorough investigation into the 2016 presidential election would reveal that President Trump would not have won the presidency without the help of Russian interference, the Washington Post reports.
What he's saying: "There's no doubt that Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016," he said at a Carter Center conference in Virginia. He also indicated that he considers Trump to be an "illegitimate president."
California Federal Judge Dolly M. Gee tasked an independent mediator with immediately improving conditions at Border Patrol facilities in Texas, reports the New York Times.
Why now: The order comes after reports detailed the conditions migrant children are being held in at a facility in Clint, Tex. The children were not provided adequate food and spent days in filthy clothes and diapers.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) raised more than $2 million in donations 24 hours after the first round of Democratic debates on Thursday night — her biggest haul since she launched her 2020 campaign.
The big picture: The debates serve as one platform candidates can use to stand out in the crowded Democratic field. Candidates are expected to report their second quarter fundraising numbers to the Federal Election Commission by July 15, and the numbers will signal who has gained momentum, per the NYT.
After Kamala Harris' pointed criticism of Joe Biden in Thursday night's debate, there were more tweets about her than any other Democratic presidential candidate and those tweets generated more interactions, according to data provided to Axios by Sprout Social.
Why it matters: “That demonstrates interest, and not just interest among social media users," Democratic strategist Ian Russell tells Axios. "The same things that drove the engagement on social media also will lead to at least a modest uptick in polling for those candidates.”
