Criminal referrals at border halted

President Donald Trump's executive order to halt family separations unleashed confusion in Washington and at the Mexico border Thursday, as Customs and Border Protection said it would it stop referring such cases for prosecution and migrant parents arrived at courthouses in Texas and Arizona wearing handcuffs only to be led away without facing ... (more)

Americans’ Certainty About Voting This Year Starting Off Low

Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults are currently "absolutely certain" they will vote in the November elections for Congress. That's on the low side in Gallup's trend of final pre-election midterm polls since 1954 and is similar to the 58% recorded just before the 2014 midterms, which had the lowest turnout rate since 1942.

Charles Krauthammer, conservative columnist and pundit, dies

Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and pundit who helped shape and occasionally dissented from the conservative movement as he evolved from "Great Society" Democrat to Iraq War cheerleader to denouncer of Donald Trump, has died at age 68. His death was announced Thursday by two longtime employers, Fox News Channel and The Washington Post. Krauthammer had said publicly a year ago he was being treated for a cancerous tumor in his abdomen and earlier this month revealed that he likely had just weeks to live.

Tell President Trump: ‘We are all Jimena Valencia’ in his un-American war against immigrants

When President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that, "We cannot allow our country to be overrun by illegal immigrants," and blamed Democrats for spreading allegedly "phony stories of sadness and grief," I couldn't stop thinking about 6-year-old Jimena Valencia Madrid. Jimena is the Salvadoran girl who was separated from her mother at the Texas border on June 13 as part of Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, and placed in a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detention center in Phoenix.

Jews Gather To Pray And Protest Immigration Crackdown At New York ICE Building

Hundreds of people holding purple placards with messages including "This is what 'Never Again' looks like," gathered outside the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in lower Manhattan Thursday evening to protest President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy. The protest - organized by T'ruah and co-sponsored by groups including J Street NYC and Bend the Arc Jewish Action - comes one day after Trump buckled to pressure and signed an executive order reversing his administration's actions to separate immigrant families.

White House pitches merging education and labor as part of streamlining, drawing skepticism

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, flanked by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, gives a presentation on proposals to consolidate executive agencies as U.S. President Donald Trump holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington Thursday. The Trump administration proposed a major reorganization of the federal government on Thursday, calling for merging the education and labor departments, moving the federal food stamp program to the Department of Health and Human Services and renaming that agency.

First lady visits migrant children at Texas detention center

Melania Trump made an unannounced visit to a Texas facility Thursday, talking with children and staff as she got a first-hand look at some of the migrant children sent there by the U.S. government after their families entered the country illegally. The first lady's stop at Upbring New Hope Children's Center came the morning after President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting the practice of separating these families.

Trump orders halt to family separations

President Donald Trump has ordered an end to the separation of migrant children from their parents on the U.S. border, reversing a tough policy under heavy pressure from his fellow Republicans, Democrats and the international community. The spectacular about-face comes after more than 2,300 children were stripped from their parents and adult relatives after illegally crossing the border since May 5 and placed in tent camps and other facilities, with no way to contact their relatives.

NORC Poll: Majority approve of Trump’s North Korea effort

A majority of Americans now approve of President Donald Trump's handling of U.S. relations with North Korea, a change that comes after his historic summit with that country's leader, Kim Jong Un. But most don't believe Kim is serious about addressing the international concerns about his country's nuclear weapons program.

Sens. McCain, Coons urge Trump to withdraw migration nominee

By JOSH LEDERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons called on President Donald Trump's administration Tuesday to withdraw its nominee for a key State Department position over his "lack of empathy" for immigrants. The appeal comes as the president faces mushrooming outrage over treatment of migrant families at the border.

Trump’s immigration order sparks confusion, deep concern

President Donald Trump's reversal of a policy separating migrant families at the Mexico border sparked confusion over how the new guidelines will play out and deep concern that the changes don't go far enough, allowing children to still be held in detention even if they remain with their families. "We are pleased that the president is calling a halt to his inhumane and heartless policy of separating parents from their children," said Peter Schey, the lawyer in a lawsuit that resulted in a key agreement governing the treatment of migrant children in detention called the Flores settlement.