BORDER/GOP/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Congressional Republicans scrambled on Tuesday [6-19-18] to craft legislation that would quell an outcry over the Trump administration’s separation of immigrant parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border, with an opinion poll showing most Americans oppose the policy. The family separations and detentions of children, highlighted by videos of youngsters in cages and an audiotape of wailing children, have sparked anger at home from groups ranging from clergy to influential business leaders, as well as condemnation abroad. President Donald Trump arrived at Capitol Hill for a Tuesday evening meeting with House of Representatives Republicans to discuss their immigration legislation. He is focused on winning congressional funding for a wall he has long wanted to build along America’s southern border with Mexico, a plan resisted by Democrats. Trump, who has made a tough stance on immigration a centerpiece of his presidency, has staunchly defended his administration’s actions. He has cast blame for the family separations on Democrats, although his fellow Republicans control both chambers in Congress and his own administration implemented the current policy of strict adherence to immigration laws.”
-Sarah N. Lynch, Susan Cornwell, “U.S. congressional Republicans seek legislative fix to family separation crisis,” Reuters, June 19, 2018 3:06 am