This week, the Trump administration moved forward with plans to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reuters reports:
Migrants in Ciudad Juarez and other Mexican border towns were cautiously optimistic as the policy took effect on Tuesday, with U.S. officials still calling those on lists of asylum seekers to cross the bridge into the United States and apply.
The new rule requires asylum-seekers crossing a third country on the way to the United States to first pursue safe-haven there, precluding claims for the thousands who traverse Central American countries and Mexico to reach the U.S. border.
Although migrants could still be granted interviews with U.S. asylum officers or face a U.S. immigration judge, the bar will be much higher.
Meanwhile, acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan testified before Congress about border conditions. And the House voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for refusing to release documents related to President Trump’s efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
We’re also following the backlash from President Trump’s thread of racist tweets. He tweeted that four freshman congresswomen of color should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Three of those four congresswomen were born in the United States.
At a rally on Wednesday in Greenville, North Carolina, the president doubled down on his comments, inspiring the crowd to chant “Send her back! Send her back!” about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
We talked about the impact of Trump’s rhetoric earlier this week. Hear that conversation here.
Planned Parenthood removed its president, Dr. Leana Wen, this week over philosophical differences about the organization’s direction.
From BuzzFeed News:
Wen “demonstrated a complete lack of leadership capability at a time when this organization requires an extraordinary leader,” a former senior staffer at Planned Parenthood said on Tuesday. “These are the times when people have to look out for what is best for the organization, and this was the best thing for the organization.”
[…] Two sources told BuzzFeed News that Wen also refused to use “trans-inclusive” language, for example saying “people” instead of “women” and telling staff that she believed talking about transgender issues would “isolate people in the Midwest.” For a period of a few months, Wen sometimes went through Planned Parenthood’s press releases and documents, deleting the word “sexual” from the phrase “sexual and reproductive health,” the source said. She also resisted using the word “abortion” as a stand-alone term, preferring “abortion care” or other phrases entirely.
Amid an intensifying debate over reproductive rights, what will be Planned Parenthood’s strategy moving forward?
We also cover the latest in Puerto Rico, where protesters are calling for Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to resign. Plus, a Washington Post investigation reveals new data about the scope of the opioid epidemic, and which companies are most responsible.
Text by Kathryn Fink.
GUESTS
Byron York, Chief political correspondent, The Washington Examiner; @ByronYork
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Congressional correspondent, The New York Times; @sherylnyt
Eugene Scott, Political reporter, The Washington Post; @Eugene_Scott
Adrian Florido, NPR National Desk Reporter covering Puerto Rico; reporter for NPR’s Code Switch. @adrianflorido
For more, visit https://the1a.org.
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