The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Do U Care?
On her way to McAllen, Texas, to see what’s been happening at the border, first lady Melania Trump donned an olive green jacket that read, “I don’t really care. Do U?”
-Written by Lena Felton (@lenakfelton) and Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)
Today in 5 Lines
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First lady Melania Trump made an unexpected visit to McAllen, Texas, to “see what’s real” on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to her spokeswoman. But it wasn’t just her surprise travel plans that generated buzz—photographers also captured her boarding the plane wearing a jacket that read, in white letters, “I don’t really care. Do U?”
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The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Border Patrol will no longer refer immigrant parents who enter the United States illegally with children for prosecution. The Justice Department, which decides whether or not to prosecute, said its “zero tolerance” policy remains in effect.
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Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced that the House will postpone a vote on its so-called “compromise” immigration bill until Friday. Shortly after, the House rejected a conservative immigration bill authored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte.
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The House narrowly passed its farm bill, which imposes stricter work requirements on millions of food-stamp recipients, in a 213–211 vote.
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The Supreme Court ruled that states can collect taxes from online retailers that aren’t physically located in the states themselves.
Today on The Atlantic
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How Will Detained Children Find Their Parents?: Federal officials have few answers. But for some immigrant children, it could take weeks, if not months or years. (Priscilla Alvarez)
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‘It’s All About Imagery’: Images of people suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina deeply damaged George W. Bush’s presidency. Mallika Rao argues that the “imaginative power” of family separation is poised to do the same to Trump’s.
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Melania Trump Plays Medieval Queen: In publicly intervening on issues like family separation, the first lady is honoring a medieval trope: She’s bolstering her husband’s image of strength, even as he’s forced to back down. (Sonja Drimmer)
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Annihilating ISIS in the Libyan Desert: William Langewiesche tells the tale of a bombing raid, in which the Obama administration sent U.S. bombers, armed with incredibly expensive equipment, to destroy a ragtag camp of fighters.
Snapshot
What We’re Reading
A Test of America’s Character: On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order he said was intended to end family separations. But the crisis is far from over. (Molly Ball, Time)
President v. President: Here are some of the similarities and differences between how President Trump and former President Obama dealt with immigration issues. (Dara Lind, Vox)
Making Room: Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services asked the Pentagon whether it could accommodate up to 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children on military bases from July through December. In 2014, the Obama administration housed about 7,000 unaccompanied minors on such bases. (Dan Lamothe, Seung Min Kim, and Nick Miroff, The Washington Post)
The Story of Donald Trump Jr.: The president’s eldest son has always struggled to define himself. Only recently, Julia Ioffe writes, has he found his “improbable purpose and renown as a savage defender of his father.” (GQ)
The Next War?: In our ultra-connected world, state-sponsored cyberattacks can affect more than just computers. Here’s why that’s so dangerous. (Dee Smith, RealClearPolitics)
Visualized
Where Is the Little Girl From the Photo?: Americans were outraged by the pictures of a 2-year-old girl crying while a Customs and Border Protection officer detained her mother. BuzzFeed News attempted to find her. (Julia Reinstein)