demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalTrump administration cancels English classes, soccer, legal aid for unaccompanied child migrants in
Source: WaPo
The Trump administration is canceling English classes, recreational programs, and legal aid for unaccompanied minors staying in federal migrant shelters nationwide, saying the immigration influx at the southern border has created critical budget pressures.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement has begun discontinuing the funding stream for activities — including soccer — that have been deemed “not directly necessary for the protection of life and safety, including education services, legal services, and recreation,” said U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman Mark Weber.
Federal officials have warned Congress that they are facing “a dramatic spike” in unaccompanied minors at the southern border and have asked Congress for $2.9 billion in emergency funding to expand shelters and care. The program could run out of money in late June, and the agency is legally obligated to direct funding to essential services, Weber said.
The move — revealed in an email an HHS official sent to licensed shelters last week, a message that has been obtained by The Washington Post — could run afoul of a federal court settlement and state licensing requirements that mandate education and recreation for minors in federal custody. Carlos Holguin, a lawyer who represents minors in a long-running lawsuit that spurred a 1997 federal court settlement that sets basic standards of care for children in custody, immediately slammed the cuts as illegal.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-administration-cancels-english-classes-soccer-legal-aid-for-unaccompanied-child-migrants-in-us-shelters/2019/06/05/df2a0008-8712-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html
Daniel Dale: I'm going to work for CNN! I'll be on the truth beat full-time starting June 17, ...
For the last three years, I’ve done most of the fact-checking on my "own" time, weekends and nights, while trying to do my actual correspondent job during the day. Now the truth file will be my full-time focus.
I started fact-checking Trump in September 2016 because I was frustrated that much of the campaign coverage didn’t seem very interested in talking about what was true and not true. This is a great opportunity to get more facts to a U.S. audience this time around.
It’s hard to leave my hometown paper after 11 years. The Star is such an important institution, doing investigative and accountability work nobody else does. @irenegentle and co. gave me freedom to do and say things that wouldn't be possible elsewhere. Please keep supporting it.
Finally, a huge thank-you to editor @EdTubb. He's been the hidden maestro behind this whole initiative -- fact-checking my fact-checks, coming up with informative graphics and statistics, doing the back-end work on the database, a bunch of other stuff. Everyone applaud Ed!
https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1136257506228035584
Congratulations!
Biden campaign confirms he supports controversial abortion rule: report
Campaign aides told NBC News that the 2020 presidential hopeful still supports the Hyde Amendment, which has prevented government health programs like Medicaid from paying for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman.
Biden’s campaign did say that the former Vice President would be open to repealing the amendment if abortion access currently protected under Roe v. Wade was threatened.
The support appears to differ from what Biden told an American Civil Liberties Union volunteer when asked about the Hyde Amendment last month.
“It can’t stay,” he said.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/447023-biden-2020-campaign-confirms-he-supports-controversial-abortion-rule-report
https://twitter.com/aclu/status/1126237661784629248
Powerball winner of $344 million jackpot used numbers from fortune cookie
WRAL in Raleigh reports retired retailer Charles W. Jackson Jr. stepped forward at North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters on Tuesday to claim last weekend's $344.6 million jackpot.
Jackson chose the $223 million lump sum payment and said he would donate some of it to several charities and give $1 million to his brother to make good on a deal they made.
Jackson initially thought he had won just $50,000 and was heading to Raleigh to collect, but looked again and saw he'd won a lot more.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/powerball-winner-344-million-jackpot-used-numbers-fortune-cookie-n1013971?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
"Ivanka is wildly out of her depth... and the president has allowed Jared Kushner and Ivanka to...
https://twitter.com/DeadlineWH/status/1136023136607059975
"I want the press to know, she pulled me close," Joe Biden jokes during interaction with woman...
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1136015408232882176Cheesus, why didn't someone get this older woman a seat to begin with (or, for the younger folks, why didn't you give up yours?).
100 years ago today: Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
https://twitter.com/amhistorymuseum/status/1135895786984624128
Tammy Duckworth: 🌈Today, Buffalo Grove will hold its first #Pride parade! Let me tell you why...
She & her family drove an hour to attend a #Pride parade that year, but she didn’t want other LGBTQ+ youth to have to travel that far to celebrate who they are, so she got to work. Molly figured out the permitting & raised money by getting local businesses to become sponsors. 2/
Molly successfully organized Buffalo Grove’s first-ever #Pride parade. Putting together such a special event is an incredible accomplishment for someone so young. But that’s Molly. I was lucky enough to meet her a few months ago & I couldn’t be more proud. 3/3
https://twitter.com/SenDuckworth/status/1135195250039885824
Molly, you are a shero!
Trump administration approved Saudi nuclear transfers after Khashoggi murder
Source: Axios
The Department of Energy approved the transfer of nuclear information from U.S. companies to Saudi Arabia seven times under President Trump, including twice after the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi government, according to a statement from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
Details: The transfer of nuclear technical expertise overseas must be approved by the DOE in consultation with the State Department and other government bodies "to protect against the proliferation of nuclear weapons programs," according to Kaine. Following demands from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Trump administration revealed that it approved one such transfer on Oct. 18, 2018 — 16 days after Khashoggi's death — and another on Feb. 18, 2019.
The big picture: The close relationship between the administration and the Saudi government came under heightened scrutiny in the aftermath of Khashoggi's death, especially after U.S. intelligence officials determined that the assassination was likely ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
Read more: https://www.axios.com/trump-saudi-arabia-nuclear-transfers-jamal-khashoggi-446adb0e-325d-499b-ae36-37ce20022c7f.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100
https://twitter.com/axios/status/1135971127522729984
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