Karen Kadish  //  6/24/19  //  Daily Update

President Trump declared that he would delay nationwide ICE raids targeting undocumented families for two weeks, aiming to pressure Democrats into agreeing to changes to asylum laws. Detention centers on the southern border have devolved into disorder, sickness, and filth. The Trump Administration announced a plan to house migrant children at former internment camps in Oklahoma, inciting significant protests and backlash. The Department of Justice signaled in a Supreme Court filing that it would be open to drawing legislative districts based on equal numbers of eligible voters – a move which would disempower minorities with less access to the vote, such as Hispanic communities.

IMMIGRATION

President Trump declared that he would delay nationwide ICE raids targeting undocumented families for two weeks, aiming to pressure Democrats into agreeing to changes to asylum laws. (New York Times)

Detention centers on the Southern Border have devolved into disorder, sickness, and filth, with children lacking proper clothes, hygiene supplies, access to showers, and proper sleeping arangements, reports Caitlin Dickerson at The New York Times.

• The government’s shocking claims that soap, toothbrushes, and adequate sleeping arrangements are not required for migrant children are part of an argument that the 1985 Flores agreement, which mandates that children be kept in “safe and sanitary” conditions, does not include specific requirements. (The Atlantic)

The Trump Administration announced a plan to house migrant children at former internment camps in Oklahoma, inciting significant protests and backlash. (New York Times)

CHECKS & BALANCES

If his decision to join the dissent in Gundy v. United States is any sign of things to come, John Roberts the institutionalist has left the building, writes Gillian Metzger on Take Care.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Conservatives are hiding behind the abortion debate to attack contraceptive access and getting away with it, as shown by a recent Ninth Circuit decision, writes Priscilla Smith on Take Care.

DEMOCRACY

Foreign spending in United States elections are a threat to American sovereignty and Congress must pass laws to shore up the United States’ cybersecurity defenses and impose consequences for foreign intervention, offers FEC chair Ellen L. Weintraub in and Op-Ed for The Washington Post.

Foreign interference in United States elections continues to draw concerns of regulators and the legislature.

• The United States can envision how disinformation could spread by looking at how Russia and other countries have spread disinformation in international elections, including the 2016 Ukraine election, reports Ali Breland at Mother Jones.
• The House Administration Committee supported a bill intended to improve the security of the United States’ voting system. (WaPo)

The Department of Justice signaled in a Supreme Court filing that it would be open to drawing legislative districts based on equal numbers of eligible voters – a move which would disempower minorities with less access to the vote, such as Hispanic communities, reports Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The aborted military strike against Iran raises questions of the military decision-making apparatus within the White House as well as the legality of U.S. military action in Iran.

• The last-minute cancellation of the strike against Iran shows that there are checks within the White House preventing an escalation of the “maximum pressure campaign” the Trump administration is waging against Iran, writes John Glaser at Cato.
• The Trump administration was scrambling for legal justifications to military action in Iran, which may not fall under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, write Joshua Geltzer, Ryan Goodman, and Luke Hartig at Just Security.
• Just Security published an analysis of the circumstances under which it would be lawful for the United States to take military operations against Iran.
• The abrupt about-face on the Iran strike has shown the deep confusion in the Trump administration about its own foreign policy goals, writes Greg Jaffe at The Washington Post.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that the United States is willing to resume talks with North Korea as soon as it expresses openness to discussing denuclearization. (WaPo)

President Trump evinced his willingness to do business with Saudi Arabia despite the torturous killing of reporter Jamal Khashoggi, reports Michael D. Shear at The New York Times.

REGULATION

The EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defended their plans to roll back Obama-era fuel-economy standards, citing a cost-benefit analysis that has come under heavy criticism, writes Megan Geus for ArsTechnica.

Another facet of the Trump administration’s insistence on deregulation is the administration’s decision not to hire employees to enforce regulation at many government agencies, including the EPA and OSHA. (WSJ)

The Trump administration’s attempt to change the federal poverty line by changing the calculation used to set the poverty line would cut off government assistance to low- and moderate-income people, write Representatives Karen Bass, G.K. Butterfield, and Steven Horsford at The Hill.