The sure-fire way to learn what happened at yesterday's Senate Judiciary hearing about Trump's zero-tolerance policy is to read the testimonies and watch the hearing in full.
If you don't have 3-plus hours to kill, here are the takeaways from 5 news stories -- starting with the items you are least likely to have read about.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unconstitutional provisions of a presidential executive order that penalize sanctuary cities. The court, however, vacated a nationwide injunction imposed by a lower court and enjoined the Administration from withholding funds only for the plaintiff cities in the case. The ruling enables the Administration to block funding for entities deemed to be sanctuary cities if they are not part of the other pending sanctuary lawsuits.
The Justice Department's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division and the Labor Department (DOL) released a memorandum of understanding Tuesday, announcing the agencies' joint effort to target companies that exhibit "unlawful discrimination" against American workers by hiring foreign labor. These employers, often times, hire cheap foreign labor through the H-1B and H-2B visa programs.
In a Tweet Monday, Pres. Trump called for an end to the visa lottery and chain migration. He also called for immigration measures that would increase border security, tighten asylum policy, and end sanctuary cities.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) publicly called on Congress to amend the Flores v. Reno consent decree Sunday in an USA Today op-ed. The original Flores decree required the federal government to release Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from detention facilities within 20 days, allowing them to live in open settings such as foster homes or other placements.
Both candidates in Georgia's 2018 Gubernatorial primary talked about illegal immigration, but chose to focus on criminal aliens while totally ignoring the economic impact that the hiring of unauthorized workers has on Georgia workers.
A new analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is denying more petitions for foreign workers in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. H-1B visa denials increased 41 percent from the 3rd to the 4th quarter of FY 2017, rising from a denial rate of 15.9 percent in the 3rd quarter to 22.4 percent in the 4th quarter. NFAP attributed this to changes USCIS implemented after President Trump signed his "Buy American, Hire American" executive order in April of last year.
The Department of Justice issued guidance this week, instructing U.S. attorneys offices to use the term "illegal alien" instead of "undocumented" when referring to a foreign national illegally residing in the U.S. The guidance states that the DOJ should use the term "illegal alien" because it is used in the U.S. Code to describe foreign nationals who reside in the country unlawfully.
During yesterday's committee mark-up of the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) and Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) allowed for the passage of several amendments that would undermine the Trump Administration's immigration enforcement efforts and increase foreign-worker competition for vulnerable American workers.
A 19-state coalition of Democratic Attorneys General urged Judge Andrew Hanen to reject a Texas-led lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against DACA and the program’s ultimate termination. An amicus brief in the case filed by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra argued that DACA is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion numerous presidents have used and ending it would cause states to lose hundreds of millions in tax revenue. A hearing on the case is set for August 8.