TUESDAY, JUNE 19 |
IMMIGRATION LOOMS LARGE President Trump is expected to meet with Congressional Republicans later today to discuss legislative solutions to immigration. The meeting comes as Republicans accused Democrats of grandstanding on the issue, while Democrats have attacked the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, which has increased the number of family separations at the U.S. border. READ |
NEW BORDER BILL Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, introduced emergency legislation to end family separation at the border that would double the number of federal immigration judges to 750, authorize new temporary shelters to accommodate families, and providing for expedited processing of asylum cases. READ |
MORE EXECUTIVE ACTION ON IMMIGRATION? There are indications that the Trump administration is considering additional executive action to deal with immigration, especially if Congress fails to act. One proposal would seek to find a legal alternative to the 1997 court settlement that limits the number of days migrant children can be in custody. READ |
NEW HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION The Trump administration is expected today to finalize a new health insurance option for small firms and self-employed people that could cost significantly less than their currently health care plans. The new association health plans could be marketed across state lines to businesses in a common industry (like florists or auto-mechanics). The plans would still have to cover people with pre-existing conditions, but the plans could offer a smaller number of benefits than required by Obamacare. READ |
SPACE FORCE President Trump directed the Defense Department to create a Space Force as a separate military branch. “It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,” said President Trump. READ |
DIGITAL GATEKEEPER Remember how we told you that Amazon and other internet companies were relying on a left-wing hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, to determine which organizations were bigoted or racist? Well, the Southern Poverty Law Center has apologized and agreed to pay Quilliam $3.375 million over incorrectly claiming the organization was founded by anti-Islamic extremists. READ |
NO F-35s FOR TURKEY The Senate voted to prohibit the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey, a country led by a man who recently predicted a “clash between the crescent and the cross.” READ |
JOHN PAUL II’S LEGACY A Two new books explore Pope St. John Paul II’s moral convictions. READ |
MIDEAST CHRISTIANS An aid worker pleads that persecuted Christians in the Middle East still need our support. READ |
SAINT OF THE DAY Saint Romuald had the strange experience of being uncomfortably holy and asked to leave a monastery. When he tried to become a missionary, he was repeatedly hindered by an illness. Next he was falsely accused and excommunicated for a few months. But he didn’t give up. READ |
DAILY MASS READINGS “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” (Ps 51:3) READ |
SPORTS Meet the Catholic visionary who founded the World Cup as a way to bring warring countries together. READ |