Possible shutdown, health care quagmire awaiting Congress

Lawmakers returning to Washington this coming week will find a familiar quagmire on health care legislation and a budget deadline dramatized by the prospect of a protracted battle between President Donald Trump and Democrats over his border wall. Trump's GOP allies control Congress, but they've been unable to send him a single major bill as his presidency faces the symbolic 100-day mark on April 29 - the very day when the government, in a worst-case scenario, could shut down.

Sanctuary cities threatened with loss of federal grant money

Attorney General Sessions speaks after he and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly toured the ports of entry and met with Department of Justice and DHS personnel in El Paso, Texas, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, right, speaks as Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly listens after the pair toured the ports of entry and met with Department of Justice and DHS personnel in El Paso, Texas, Thursday, April 20, 2017.

Trump Threatens to Cut Off Funding From – Sanctuary Cities’ an hour ago

The Trump administration intensified its threats to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal immigration authorities, warning nine jurisdictions Friday that they may lose coveted law enforcement grant money unless they document cooperation. It sent letters to officials in California and major cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans, all places the Justice Department's inspector general has identified as limiting the information local law enforcement can provide to federal immigration authorities about those in their custody.

Justice Dept. warns sanctuary cities in immigration fight

The Trump administration intensified its threats to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal immigration authorities, warning nine jurisdictions Friday that they may lose coveted law enforcement grant money unless they document cooperation. It sent letters to officials in California and major cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans, all places the Justice Department's inspector general has identified as limiting the information local law enforcement can provide to federal immigration authorities about those in their custody.

Young immigrant – dreamers’ can – rest easy,’ Trump says

Young immigrants protected by executive action from deportation say they won't ''rest easy,'' even if President Donald Trump says they should. Several ''dreamers'' told The Associated Press on Friday that they were not comforted by Trump's pledge, in an AP interview, that he wouldn't target the almost 800,000 people brought to the U.S. as children and living in the country illegally under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program enacted by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

California cities ready to fight Trumpa s call to punish so-called a sanctuary citiesa

California cities are mobilizing to fight the Trump administration's effort to strip federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, which do not enforce federal immigration policy. Even as the Justice Department on Friday advised eight local governments and the state of California that they were at risk of losing federal dollars if they don't cooperate, several cities had already directed their lobbyists to oppose such efforts.

Ex-Hawaii gov to Trump: End ‘wasteful’ rail project that will change beauty of Honolulu

One of Hawaii's most well-known governors is appealing to President Trump to end funding for the state's most notorious government "boondoggle" project. The controversial 20-mile elevated heavy steel rail system now under construction on Oahu is slated to cost $10 billion or $500 million per mile, former Hawaii Gov. Benjamin Cayetano said, "the most costly rail project in the world."

Trump, Republicans face tricky task of averting U.S. government shutdown

President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress face their first major budget test next week, with the threat of a U.S. government shutdown potentially hinging on his proposed Mexican border wall as well as Obamacare funding. With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, keeping the federal government operating is a basic test of their ability to govern, but their task could become even more complicated if they insist on using the spending legislation to bring about contentious policy changes.

Trump’s budget chief says money for border wall a must

Money for the wall President Donald Trump wants to build along the U.S. border with Mexico must be part of the massive spending bill Congress is preparing, the White House budget director says. Additional funding also must be included to hire more immigration agents, Mick Mulvaney told The Associated Press in an interview in which he laid out the top priorities of the president.

Congress returns as Trump pressures Democrats ahead of funding deadline

With a deadline looming this week to avert a U.S. government shutdown, Congress returns to work on Monday as President Donald Trump leans on Democrats to include funding for his promised border wall with Mexico in spending legislation. The Republican president took to Twitter on Sunday to warn Democrats that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, could soon lose essential funding without Democratic support for a congressional spending plan to keep the government running.

Continue reading Prison company struggles toget license to hold children

A top private prison company is struggling to convince Texas lawmakers to license one of its facilities to hold immigrant parents and their children together -- a practice that President Donald Trump's administration recently committed to upholding. The Karnes Residential Center, 60 miles south of San Antonio, opened as a family detention center in 2014 and used to hold detainees for months, until a federal judge ruled that children held longer than 20 days must be housed in "non-secure" facilities with child care licenses.

DREAMer deported as Homeland Security disputes circumstances

A 23-year-old undocumented immigrant who had been protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy has been deported to Mexico, according to court documents and Department of Homeland Security records. The deportation, the man's lawyers said, is the first of its kind under the administration of President Donald Trump.

New Day, New Race

This week, the national media and national Democrats claimed a premature victory in the Georgia sixth congressional district special election, which they saw as a referendum on President Trump. When all the votes were counted, Democrat Jon Ossoff found himself in a runoff against Republican Karen Handel rather than the outright win he and his funders had hoped for.