The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S., announced Wednesday that it had voted to become a "sanctuary church body" for undocumented immigrants, claiming to be the first North American denomination to do so.
What it means: Sanctuary cities and counties, the most frequently designated areas to dub themselves as "sanctuaries," "generally describe places that limit how local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration agents," per the New York Times.
The Trump Organization has employed a group of Latin American construction workers — some undocumented — to build features at its properties around the eastern U.S. for almost two decades, reports the Washington Post.
Why it matters, via Axios' Rashaan Ayesh: President Trump has made fighting illegal immigration a core part of his presidency and 2020 re-election campaign, but multiple reports over the past year have revealed that his businesses likely benefitted from cheap, undocumented labor. Friday's Post report comes just days after ICE raids in Mississippi resulted in the arrests of 680 immigrants, separating families and stoking fear in immigrant communities across the country, per the AP.
Twitter reinstated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign account Friday after the profile was suspended earlier this week for posting a profanity-laced video of protesters outside the Kentucky senator's home.
What they're saying: "After multiple appeals from affected users and Leader McConnell’s team confirming their intent to highlight the threats for public discussion, we have reviewed this case more closely," Twitter's communication team explained in thread of tweets Friday.
Trump campaign officials and sources close to the president tell Axios that they believe Democrats' extraordinary charge that the president is a "white supremacist" will actually help him win in 2020.
Why it matters: These Trump allies tell us that the claim by Democratic opponents is not only emboldening his base, but also alienating some mainstream Republicans who think Democrats have gone too far.
Billionaire New York real estate developer Stephen Ross privately expressed qualms about going ahead with his Hamptons fundraiser for President Trump today.
The state of play: Liberal customers had threatened to boycott Equinox and SoulCycle, the high-end fitness brands owned by a parent company that Ross chairs. Ross, who also owns the NFL's Miami Dolphins, "freaked out" at the backlash, a source said, adding that Trump associates persuaded him to go ahead with the event at his Southampton mansion.
Several of America's key strategic partners are at each other's throats — and the U.S. seems powerless to prevent further escalation.
Why it matters: “None of these crises were made in America,” says Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. “That said, we have made it worse in each case either by what we’ve done or what we haven’t done.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to President Trump on Thursday asking him to use his Article II powers to call the Senate back into session — prematurely ending the August recess — in order to consider gun control legislation passed in the House.
The big picture: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has yet to bring a vote on two background check bills that passed the House over 5 months ago. After the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings, Trump publicly said that he would support background checks to prevent guns getting "into the hands of mentally unstable people with rage or hate."
In July, the number of migrants arrested or turned away at the southwest border fell below 100,000 — to 82,049– for the first time in 5 months, according to new Homeland Security data.
The big picture: The significant drop in border activity comes as Mexico has cracked down on immigration enforcement following President Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods. Guatemala also recently signed a “safe third country“ agreement, which will force more asylum seekers to pursue protection in Guatemala instead of the U.S.
Eight victims of the El Paso mass shooting did not want to meet with President Trump on Wednesday and did not want any visitors, University Medical Center spokesman Ryan Mielke tells the Washington Post.
Why it matters, via the Post: "Trump’s visit to El Paso was unwelcome for many elected officials and other El Pasoans, who believe Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants and the border has emboldened anti-immigrant groups."
Taylor Swift told Vogue that she chose not to endorse Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election because she believed President Trump had "[weaponized] the idea of the celebrity endorsement."
"He was going around saying, 'I’m a man of the people. I’m for you. I care about you.' I just knew I wasn’t going to help."
More than 200 mayors signed onto a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday urging them to cancel the Senate's August recess to address gun control following last weekend's mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio.
"Already in 2019, there have been over 250 mass shootings. The tragic events in El Paso and Dayton this weekend are just the latest reminders that our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them."
The big picture: Gravel previously said he'd be interested in endorsing either Sanders or Gabbard, but commented that he likes Gabbard for her non-interventionist foreign policy ideas, per the Atlantic. However, Gravel's former campaign manager David Oks said Sanders is a better choice, since Sanders' chances of securing the party nomination are stronger than Gabbard's, reports the Daily Beast.
SoulCycle is in the midst of an intense customer backlash, following reports that real estate billionaire Stephen Ross plans to hold a pricey fundraiser for President Trump.
Why it matters: In short, many prominent SoulCyclers believe Trump is antithetical to the fitness company's values (particularly around LGBTQ rights).
Palantir has more than $1.5 billion in federal government contracts and deep ties to the Trump administration, yet few people know the company or how its products work, according to a new report from Latinx organizing non-profit Mijente.
The big picture: Mijente's report comes a day after ICE arrested 680 people in the largest-yet roundup of undocumented immigrants under the Trump administration.
David Plouffe, manager of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign and a pioneer in grassroots organizing, will be out March 3 with "A Citizen's Guide to Beating Donald Trump, " via Viking, which includes his message to 2020 voters and campaigns.
"The only way change happens, especially on scale, is one human being talking to another. ... [I]t won't happen because of debates and conventions, it won't happen because of ads. It will happen because citizens take action."
Hari Sevugan, a well-known Democratic operative, has joined Pete Buttigieg's campaign as deputy campaign manager for brand and media, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The Buttigieg staff has grown to 250, from about 40 when he announced four months ago, in mid-April. He plans to keep hiring.
A group of 2020 Democrats have called President Trump a "white supremacist," an extraordinary charge at an extraordinary moment in American politics.
Why it matters ... This is a big shift from calling the president a white nationalist. Check out Merriam-Webster's definition of white supremacist: "a person who believes that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races."
President Trump told reporters Wednesday he's "strongly considering" commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), the New York Times reports.
Details: "I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly," the president said of Blagojevich, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence following a 2011 conviction on corruption charges, per the Wall Street Journal, which notes the Democrat appeared on Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" reality show in 2010. "I think it’s enough, 7 years."
President Trump was met with protests and some support during his visit to El Paso and Dayton with First Lady Melania Trump Wednesday following last weekend's twin mass shootings in the cities.
Details: At least 200 protesters gathered outside Dayton’s Miami Valley Hospital during the visit, "blaming Trump’s incendiary rhetoric for inflaming political and racial tensions" and demanding tighter gun restrictions, AP reports. A rally countering the visit was held in El Paso. Here's what unfolded, in photos.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), the manager of the Democratic presidential campaign of twin brother Julián Castro, dismissed calls from the Trump campaign and other Republicans Tuesday to delete a tweet identifying some of President Trump’s biggest Texas donors.
Why it matters: Castro posted the names and occupations of 44 Trump donors from San Antonio ahead of the president's planned visit Wednesday to El Paso following Saturday's mass shooting there.
