What We’re Following
Trump’s Immigration Policy: After two weeks of uncertainty about his stance on immigration, Donald Trump went back to the hardline policies he’d campaigned on during the primaries in a speech on Wednesday, repeating that he’d enact mass deportations, build a wall on the southern U.S. border, and make Mexico pay for it. In response, members of his Hispanic Advisory Council are reportedly stepping down. And yet, asks David Frum, is Trump’s immigration policy—insofar as it prioritizes American interests—really so shocking?
A Tactical Error? Just how effective a protest is refusing to stand for the national anthem? Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who sat to protest police brutality, is facing intense criticism over his choice—and as Peter Beinart points out, his statement could have been better heard if he hadn’t appeared to reject the anthem. But Garrett Epps, citing a 1940 Supreme Court case over a mandatory flag salute, argues that Americans should be wary of paying too much reverence to national symbols.
The Thin Blue Line: David Brown, the chief of police of Dallas, Texas, has announced his retirement after 33 years on the force. Brown became a national figure when a gunman killed five Dallas police officers in July; in the aftermath of the shootings, the police chief called on the city to “stop this divisiveness between our police and our citizens.” There’s more evidence of that divide today in Atlanta, Georgia, where a former officer has been indicted for murder after shooting an unarmed black man, Deravis Caine Rogers, on June 22. But meanwhile, in Camden, New Jersey, police officer Cabria Bell sees her day-to-day job as simply to serve the community. “Yes, I wear this badge,” says Bell, “[but] behind all of this I am still somebody’s daughter, somebody’s spouse. I’m still a human [and] my job as an officer is to be here for you.” Read the full interview here.