Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
New York Times: “If President Trump succeeds in eliminating universal birthright citizenship, there could be 6.4 million U.S.-born children without legal status by 2050, according to a new study.”
“In addition to affecting undocumented immigrants in the country, the authors say, that change would have a disproportionate effect on Asians who are in the country lawfully.”
CBS News: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday is set to weigh whether President Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship withstands constitutional and legal muster, a case that tests a key aspect of the president’s second-term immigration agenda.”
New York Times: “The national fight over immigration landed without warning last month in Texas’ Big Bend region, a remote stretch of inhospitable terrain that runs for hundreds of miles along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
“Despite President Trump’s vow to complete a border wall along the southern frontier, the plan shocked West Texas. It also unnerved Republicans and Democrats across the state who wondered why the federal government would spend billions to build a wall through an area so remote.”
“But for the state’s Republican leaders, the border wall plan presented a political predicament. While none have spoken in favor of a physical wall, public opposition could risk inflaming the Trump administration and alienating voters who prize border security.”
A new PRRI poll shows that public support for President Trump’s anti-immigration agenda has cratered.
Just over one-third of Americans — 35% — rate Trump’s handling of immigration favorably, compared with 61% who rate his actions unfavorably.
And nearly half — 48% — of Americans hold very unfavorable views of his handling of immigration.
New York Times: “Mr. Bovino’s actions left a trail of litigation, condemnations from local politicians and accusations of discrimination and unconstitutional conduct.”
“And, yes, the Commander has a few regrets. But he does not think he went too far. He thinks he did not go far enough.”
A New Jersey Democratic state lawmaker is facing a complaint from one of her Republican colleagues over an expletive laced into the title of a bill that targets U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New Jersey Monitor reports.
The bill in question is the “Fight Unlawful Conduct and Keep Individuals and Communities Empowered Act,” introduced last month.
New York Times: “The Trump administration began deportation proceedings for 34 former members of the military over the past year, after immigration authorities were directed to ignore previous guidance that gave service members and their relatives more deference.”
“The 34 are among 125 former service members who were arrested over immigration violations over the past year… Officials also placed 248 relatives of former military members into deportation proceedings.”
A new CBS News Poll shows President Trump upside-down by 10 points on immigration, with only 45% approving and 55% disapproving.
Border Czar Tom Homan said that ICE agents will deploy to airports on Monday to help ease security lines amid the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, CNBC reports.
Washington Post: “The Trump administration is building hundreds of miles of border wall through iconic national parks, public lands and ecologically sensitive wilderness, empowered by provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that provided $46.5 billion in funding and a 2005 law that waived dozens of environmental rules for border security projects.”
New York Times: “Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent turned presidential special envoy, had learned that his Brazilian ex-girlfriend was in a Miami jail, arrested on charges of fraud at her workplace. They had been in a custody battle over their teenage son. Now he saw an opportunity.”
“He reached out to a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, explaining that his ex was in the country illegally… Could she be put in ICE detention? That could help him get his son back.”
The Dispatch: “The political fallout from President Donald Trump’s mass deportation program has damaged his job approval ratings, led to the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and prompted the White House to urge Republicans in Congress to abandon the issue and instead tout administration efforts to remove criminal aliens.”
“But the main architect of mass deportations, Stephen Miller, remains the White House deputy chief of staff because of his unquestionable loyalty to Trump and personal popularity among GOP voters. Few if any Republicans in Washington, D.C.—elected officials, lobbyists or operatives—are demanding Miller’s ouster, or even that immigration be removed from his portfolio. That’s despite the boost the mass deportation operation has given to the Democratic Party’s bid to recapture the House of Representatives and Senate in midterm elections.”
“A key reason why: The White House aide enjoys a following all his own inside the GOP.”
“Outspoken Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino is retiring from federal service at the end of this month, after being pulled away from a high-profile role leading immigration raids in major U.S. cities,” CBS News reports.
“House Republicans sought to use their annual policy retreat near Miami this week to articulate a legislative agenda that could broadly appeal to voters ahead of midterm elections the lawmakers are at risk of losing, and to present an optimistic front as they fight to keep control of Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“But in the middle of the gathering, Speaker Mike Johnson, a vocal booster of his fractious conference and one who is often publicly sunny about its electoral prospects, acknowledged a vulnerability: President Trump’s immigration crackdown has alienated voters, and his party is now in need of a reboot on the issue.”
Said Johnson: “We’ve got a little hiccup with some of the Hispanic and Latino voters for certain, because some of the immigration enforcement was viewed to be overzealous.”
A new Navigator Research survey finds 60% of Americans feel unfavorably toward ICE.
And by a 19-point margin, Americans blame Trump and Republicans in Congress for the current shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security over Democrats in Congress, 48% to 29%.
But this is the context: “Trump’s immigration approval rating has soured, though he and Republicans are still slightly more trusted than Democrats on the issue. Many Americans are unsure of who to trust more or don’t trust either party on the issue.”
“White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair privately urged House Republicans on Tuesday to stop emphasizing ‘mass deportations’ and instead focus their messaging on removing violent criminals,” Axios reports.
“Nearly half — 49% — of Americans say Trump’s mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, a Politico poll from January found.”
Minnesota Star Tribune: “The Jan. 14 shooting sparked chaotic protests and an hourlong standoff with federal authorities at the suspects’ shared north Minneapolis duplex, where agents shattered an upstairs window and deployed tear gas inside a residence filled with women and young children.”
“The government’s official story would unravel in court — refuted by video surveillance, crime scene photos and witness statements.”
“Video released by investigators in the fatal shooting last March of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent calls into question a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson’s claim that the victim ‘intentionally ran over’ a different agent before being shot,” the Washington Post reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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