“The United States is preparing to shelter as many as 20,000 migrant children on four American military bases, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday, as federal officials struggled to carry out President Trump’s order to keep immigrant families together after they are apprehended at the border,” the New York Times reports.

“Republicans faced growing opposition to their bill despite last-minute lobbying from President Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“In the face of defeat, Republicans decided prior to an emergency closed-door meeting with rank and file members to postpone the vote until Friday.”

New York Times: “The compromise bill is facing trouble with conservatives, who would be taking a political risk by supporting a bill that has been derided as offering ‘amnesty’ to young undocumented immigrants. With its chances appearing dim, Speaker Paul Ryan declined to speculate on the House’s next move. Republicans in the Senate are backing narrow legislation to ensure that children are not taken from their parents at the border.”

Daily Mail: “Melania Trump made quite the sartorial statement on Thursday when she donned a jacket with the words, ‘I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?’ written across the back while boarding a plane to visit immigrant children being held at the border in Texas.”

“The 48-year-old first lady was pictured arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland wearing the $39 khaki design from Zara, before boarding her plane to fly to Texas.”

The U.S. government will no longer file criminal charges against parents who cross the border illegally, a senior U.S. Customs official told the Washington Post.

“The dramatic about-face comes just one day after President Trump signed an executive order ending his administration’s widely denounced practice of separating families apprehended at the Mexico border.”

“Trump’s order said the government would maintain a ‘zero tolerance’ policy toward those who break the law, but a senior U.S. official, when asked to explain how the federal government would change enforcement practices, told The Washington Post that Border Patrol agents have been instructed to stop sending parents with children to federal courthouses for prosecution.”

Molly Ball: “In a presidency marked by serial outrages, the scandal over family separations at the southern border has been unlike any other. The President didn’t just say something offensive, he intentionally turned the machinery of the state on some of the world’s most vulnerable humans. He applied his signature approach–brutal toughness–to his trademark issue, immigration. He greeted criticism of his policy with mockery, falsehoods and blame-casting. He handcuffed the Republican Party and hamstrung understaffed federal agencies. All the themes of Trump’s character and Administration were embodied in this wrenching calamity.”

Politico: “House Republicans spent weeks crafting a ‘compromise’ immigration bill slated to hit the House floor Thursday — one that tracks with President Trump’s call to beef up border security and shield Dreamers from deportation.”

“But the only question going into the big vote is how badly it fails.”

The Washington Post reports that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) “did not concede defeat” but repeatedly referenced the prospect of both bills failing and characterized scheduled votes as “a legitimate exercise.”

“Several Republican aides and lawmakers said Trump undermined prospects for success in the House on Thursday with a morning tweet that cast doubt on whether any Republican immigration legislation could pass the Senate.”

Playbook: “This package of bills could easily go down. Meadows and his group control the House of Representatives on most days, and no matter what the leadership or Trump do, that’s the reality. If these bills fail, GOP leadership will take solace in the fact that they killed the bipartisan effort to vote on the Dream Act — a bad vote for many Republicans, they say — and gave the vulnerable members an immigration vote they needed.”

“President Trump’s ability to sway lawmakers is up for a test on the House floor today. For reasons unclear to many in the White House and some in leadership, Trump got involved in the House’s immigration process.”

“But sure… It would be embarrassing if the president is unable to corral his party around an immigration bill.”