Republicans Scramble to Fix Border Crisis as Trump Digs In
*By Alisha Haridasani*
President Trump again deflected blame for tearing apart families at the U.S. border and suggested deporting entire family units, as Republicans scrambled to come up with legislation to address the crisis.
“I don’t want children taken away from parents,” the president said in a broad-ranging speech at the National Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday.
“We want to end the border crisis by finally giving us the legal authorities and the resources to detain and remove illegal immigrant families,” he said.
The president also threatened to cut off foreign aid for all the countries “sending their people up.”
“We’re not going to give anymore aid to those countries -- why the hell should we?”
His comments came as House Republicans tried to draw up a plan to fix overall immigration policy, providing things such as a pathway to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, funding for the president's proposed border wall, and an end to the separation of families.
The administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, implemented in April by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, penalizes all adult immigrants entering the country unlawfully. Since courts have ruled in the past that children cannot be jailed, the new policy has resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their families and held at detention centers while their parents are processed.
Images of the crying children have ignited [bipartisan backlash](https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-defends-harsh-immigration-policy-as-lawmakers-call-for-change), leaving the GOP worried that the issue could cost them the midterms.
“I think there is some nervousness among some Republicans, especially among some Republicans who are a little bit loathe to agree with the president to begin with, that this is going to become a big rallying cry,” said Politico reporter Louis Nelson.
The Wall Street Journal, a right-leaning publication, released an [editorial](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-gops-immigration-meltdown-1529364334) on Tuesday bashing what the paper calls an “election-year nightmare.”
“Are Republicans trying to lose their majorities in Congress this November?” the op-ed read. It called for an immediate end to the zero-tolerance policy.
Major tech companies, including Microsoft and Apple, also condemned the administration’s actions, adding to pressure on Trump to change course.
“I think that what’s happening is inhumane, it needs to stop,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In the face of the backlash, most of Trump's aides have outwardly stuck to the same talking points. Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the practice during a White House briefing on Monday, claiming that the DHS was only "enforcing the laws passed by Congress."
Tensions in Ukraine continue to rise. According to NATO and U.S. officials, Russian troops are still being built up despite Moscow's claims of de-escalation. However, Ukraine does not believe the troops are enough to mount an invasion. The government in Kyiv has also reported several cyber attacks against its defense agencies and banks which is the largest attack in the country's history. Foreign Affairs Reporter based in Ukrain, Terrell Starr, joined Cheddar to discuss more
A Senate bill unveiled on Wednesday looks to tackleonline safety for children by regulating Big Tech and social media platforms to deter users from content that can harm their mental health. Irene Ly, a policy counsel for the age-based ratings and review organization Common Sense Media, joined Cheddar News to break down the potential of the Kids Online Safety Act. "We can't be imposing such a big burden on parents to be doing it all on theirselves," Ly said. "I think you also have to keep in mind that parents often didn't grow up with social media, so they don't understand what it's like to be addicted to social media or really understand how they work."
The Federal Reserve minutes from its January meeting are indicating it's sticking to an interest rate hike in March, but what does the report coupled with ongoing inflation mean for investors going forward? Scott Brown, a market strategist at LPL Financial, joined Cheddar News to break down the minutes and talk about how investors might navigate the rest of the year. "it seems like the market is kind of inclined to trade off these headlines, really, through the first half of the year," he said. "And then, oh, don't forget, we've got midterm elections, which always tend to add a little bit of volatility in the second half of the year." Brown noted that the path forward for stock investors in 2022 would be "rockier" than last year.
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced a new bill to afford greater protection to minors on social media. The genesis of the Kids Online Safety Act came from a Facebook whistleblower case exposing the harm apps can have on the mental health of young girls.
The Chinese government brought the sitcom "Friends" back to its streaming services. However, it had instances of LGBTQ+ references left out, after the series had been banned on Chinese streaming platforms for years.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a national public order emergency as a 'last resort' to restore order after protests have significantly disrupted daily life and impacted the local economy since the protests began. It is the first time in 50 years a Canadian government has taken this type of action. Myah Ward, breaking news reporter at Politico, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Almost a decade after facing a parent's worst nightmare, the families of the young students killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting reached a settlement with gun manufacturer Remington, makers of the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the crime. David Pucino, deputy chief counsel, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence joined Cheddar News to discuss the families' case and how its strategy brought about the legal settlement. "They built a really great case showing the way that Bushmaster developed its advertising to drive sales using those toxic messages.
A new analysis reveals that for more than two decades, the West has been the driest it has ever been since 800 A.D. The drought which began in 2000 has brought more devastating wildfires and draining water reserves well below healthy levels. Climate Scientists and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University,Benjamin Cook, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
