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."
Florida lawmakers have introduced a controversial bill restricting some discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms with young students. Supporters say the move empowers parents to have more of a say in what their children learn. Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
Congress this week passed a bill that would end forced arbitration for workplace sexual assault and harassment, one of the most significant changes to employment law in years. Cheddar News speaks with Marjorie Mesidor, Sexual Harassment Attorney, who explains that arbitrators are often retired judges or attorneys who "tends to have a more conservative view both to law and rewards."
As the situation with Russia has grown more precarious, the White House urged Americans remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The Biden administration that it sees continuing signs of escalation but did not have specific information detailing a timetable for a potential invasion. Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar News to provide her analysis. "There's talk of an impending phone call between President Putin, President Biden," Berzina said. "That is certainly a good sign to indicate that there would be significant cost."
Terrell Starr, host of 'Black Diplomats' podcast and senior nonresident fellow at the Eurasia Center for Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News from Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss the mounting tension there.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
David Tafuri, Former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor & Former State Department Official, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest geopolitical stories from Beijing, amid China's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and yet another Russian doping scandal.
Dr. Jennifer Haythe of Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with the pandemic, as the debate over child safety rages amid low vaccination rates and states easing school mask mandates.
