Iran breached uranium enrichment levels mandated by the 2015 nuclear deal for the first time since Trump withdrew from the agreement.
The House has finally sued to get Trump’s tax returns.
Trump gave a speech about the military at the Lincoln Memorial on the 4th of July. Here is Frum’s analysis: Trump’s speech was written by people who did not know what they wanted to say. It was a litany of old glories, a shout-out to heroes carefully balanced by race and sex, but with no conscious theme or message.
Washington Post reports on the secret leaked total of taxpayer money that the Trump Administration is diverting from the Parks Department to pay for his July 4th rally on the Mall–$2.5 million: “The diverted park fees represent just a fraction of the extra costs the government faces as a result of the event, which will include displays of military hardware, flyovers by an array of jets including Air Force One, the deployment of tanks on the Mall and an extended pyrotechnics show.”
Immigration News
ProPublica reported on a batch of sexist and racist Facebook messages by current Border Patrol Agents. The private group has 9,500 members: “Group members posted offensive graphics, including a photo illustration of Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being sexually assaulted by President Donald Trump; discussed plans to disrupt a congressional visit to a Border Patrol facility; and joked about the deaths of migrants.”
Homeland Security released an inspector general report about conditions at several Border Patrol facilities, with graphic pictures of overcrowding: “Its report describes standing-room-only cells, children without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release.”
After losing in the Supreme Court, the Trump administration announced that they will print the 2020 Census without the citizenship question.
Trump pulled an about face when he heard that his DOJ was not pursuing the Census question, and said on Twitter that he was. He may use an executive order in an attempt to include the question.
More details are included in this NBC report: a border station in the El Paso sector that only four showers were available for 756 immigrants, over half of the immigrants were being held outside, and immigrants inside were being kept in cells maxed at over five times their capacity.
The report explains why this is happening. Border Patrol is supposed to transfer immigrants to ICE custody quickly since ICE is equiped for long-term detention: “In our discussions with ICE field management about this situation, they explained that their capacity to find additional bed space is strained. As a result, Border Patrol
continues to hold detainees for more than 72 hours in overcrowded
conditions while they await transfer.”
Here is a New York Times investigative report about the Clint, Texas facility.
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Trump’s Job Approval: 42.6%