Washington Post: “The accord could allow the United States to send migrants who reach the southern border to El Salvador to seek asylum, the latest in a series of deals aimed at creating new layers of deterrents to the influx of migrants seeking protection on U.S. soil.”

Associated Press: “The gang-plagued El Salvador is among the world’s deadliest countries, with one of the highest homicide rates on the globe… Many people who flee from El Salvador have said they and their families were threatened by gang members. Teenagers often are pressured to join gangs and have had their lives and their families threatened if they refuse. Some young women are forced to become the girlfriends of gang members, facing rape or murder if they refuse.”

The Pentagon is fighting against proposals by White House officials to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., and has called for reserving visas for Iraqis who risked their lives working for U.S. troops,” NBC News reports.

“In internal discussions, the Defense Department has expressed opposition to any further reductions to the current annual ceiling of 30,000 for refugee admissions, which already is at a historic low for the 40-year-old U.S. refugee program.”

“Senior Trump administration officials are considering a plan to again divert billions of dollars in military funding to pay for border barrier construction next year, a way to circumvent congressional opposition to putting more taxpayer money toward the president’s signature project,” the Washington Post reports.

“The president has pledged to complete nearly 500 miles of new barrier by the 2020 election — stirring chants of “Build the Wall!” at his campaign rallies. But that construction goal will require a total of $18.4 billion in funding through 2020, far more than the administration has publicly disclosed.”

“The bulldozers and excavators rushing to install President Trump’s border fence could damage or destroy up to 22 archaeological sites within Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in coming months,” according to an internal National Park Service report obtained by the Washington Post.

“Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner told Senate Republicans Wednesday that the party should unite behind a 600-page immigration plan he crafted ahead of the 2020 election so the party can provide a positive vision for immigration reform,” The Hill reports.

“Kushner’s main message to Senate Republicans was it would be smart for the party to unify behind a plan to counter Democratic attacks that Republicans don’t have any interest in fixing the nation’s broken immigration system.”

President Trump urged caution in admitting people into the U.S. from the Bahamas, claiming ― with no apparent basis in fact ― that “very bad people” could be hidden among the hordes of Hurricane Dorian survivors attempting to flee the devastated archipelago, the HuffPost reports.

Said Trump: “We have to be very careful. Everyone needs totally proper documentation because the Bahamas had some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas who weren’t supposed to be there.”

“Senate Democrats plan to force another vote in Congress aimed at overturning President Trump’s border emergency — potentially triggering another standoff between the administration and congressional Republicans over the billions in dollars being siphoned from the Pentagon to pay for Trump’s border wall,” the Washington Post reports.

“Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to announce later Tuesday that Democratic senators will force a second vote in the chamber this year on a resolution to terminate Trump’s emergency border declaration.”

“The White House is considering a plan that would effectively bar refugees from most parts of the world from resettling in the United States by cutting back the decades-old program that admits tens of thousands of people each year who are fleeing war, persecution and famine,” the New York Times reports.

“In meetings over the past several weeks, one top administration official has proposed zeroing out the program altogether, while leaving the president with the ability to admit refugees in an emergency. Another option that top officials are weighing would cut refugee admissions by half or more, to 10,000 to 15,000 people, but reserve most of those spots for refugees from a few handpicked countries or groups with special status, such as Iraqis and Afghans who work alongside American troops, diplomats and intelligence operatives abroad.”

“Both options would all but end the United States’ status as one of the leading places accepting refugees from around the world.”

“Pentagon officials on Wednesday will begin notifying lawmakers who represent districts where key military construction projects will be delayed due to construction of President Trump’s border wall,” the Washington Post reports.

“Defense Secretary Mark Esper agreed on Tuesday to free up $3.6 billion from the Pentagon budget for President Trump’s border wall by effectively defunding 127 military construction projects using emergency authorities,” the Washington Post reports.

“Esper determined that the use of the military construction funds was necessary to support American forces deployed to the southern border with Mexico under the national emergency that Trump declared in mid-February. The formal determination allows Trump, under an obscure statute in the federal code overseeing the military, to tap the funds appropriated for other purposes without sign-off from Congress.”

“The Pentagon declined to release the list of 127 military construction projects that would be affected by the decision.”

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro repeated a conspiracy theory held by some White Supremacists while claiming that Democrats are waging a vast “plot” to “replace American citizens with illegals,” Mediaite reports.

Said Pirro: “Their plan and their plot to remake America is to bring in the illegals, change the way the voting occurs in this country, give them licenses, they get to vote maybe once, maybe twice, maybe three times.”

She added: “You’ve got motor voter registration on the day of the election, we’ve got voter rolls that haven’t been purged of dead people in years, where the Democrats have resisted that. Think about that, it is a plot to remake America. To replace American citizens with illegals.”

NBC News: “Each year, the country gets about 1,000 applications from people for permission to stay in the country and not face deportation so family members can get or continue lifesaving medical care that is not available in their home countries.”

“But the administration quietly told families who were granted permission to stay and with children and family members receiving this kind of medical care that their permission to stay has been rescinded and they have 33 days to leave the country. The policy is being applied retroactively to any requests filed on or before Aug. 7.”

Fox News chief anchor Shepard Smith disputed President Trump’s recent remarks about border wall construction, saying on air that “there is no new wall,” The Hill reports.

Said Smith: “The president also said in the tweet that the wall is going up rapidly. It is not. As we just reported, there’s no new wall. Only replacement for walls which were in need of repair or upgrade. Those are the facts.”

“President Trump’s signature campaign promise to build a wall along the southwestern border is far behind schedule. So he has told his aides to get the job done by whatever means necessary, including by seizing land on the Mexican frontier,” the New York Times reports.

“The president has repeatedly suggested during meetings on immigration policy that aides ‘take the land’ and ‘get it done,’ according to a person who has heard him say it.”

“The Washington Post first reported that Mr. Trump had brought up the land seizures, and had floated the idea of offering pardons to aides willing to break the law, a suggestion he has made before when exploring ways to fulfill his campaign promises.”

“President Trump is so eager to complete hundreds of miles of border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential election that he has directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars’ worth of construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental rules,” the Washington Post reports.

“He also has told worried subordinates that he will pardon them of any potential wrongdoing should they have to break laws to get the barriers built quickly.”

“The president has told senior aides that a failure to deliver on the signature promise of his 2016 campaign would be a letdown to his supporters and an embarrassing defeat. With the election 14 months away and hundreds of miles of fencing plans still in blueprint form, Trump has held regular meetings at the White House to receive progress updates and hasten the pace.”