*By Conor White*
The U.S. government may be on track to meet Thursday's deadline to reunite families separated at the southern borderーbut one Politico reporter reminded Cheddar that doesn't apply to everyone.
In an interview Thursday, Dan Diamond praised the government's efforts over a relatively short period, but said there are nine hundred parents that have been deemed 'ineligible'ーmeaning they have a criminal record, preexisting health problem, or have already been deported. Diamond cautioned that some may never seen their children again.
Another major wrinkle in the plan: Diamond said the costs of getting some 2,500 immigrant children to their parents will be felt for quite a while. The Health Department, he said, has resorted to siphoning from its broader funds.
"\[The Department has spent\] tens of millions of dollars just in the past few months on housing kids that have been separated at the border, caring for them, and now putting the families back together."
Officials may also have to answer for a [new Politico report](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/25/deported-migrants-leaving-children-behind-712088) that says 75 percent of migrant parents were never given a choice between taking their children with them or leaving them behind in the States, contradicting what the Trump administrationーincluding Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsenーhas claimed.
"That's very concerning from a human perspective," Diamond said, "but also creates major logistical challenges, because now the government has to track down parents who have been deported and ask them, 'Do you want your kid brought to you in a foreign country?' How will these parents be put back together with their kids?"
"So \[there's been\] a lot of progressーbut \[also\] very real questions about what happens to the entire population of migrant parents and kids."
For full interview [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjExNTg=).
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
