Week In The News: Migrant Centers, Trump And July Fourth, Census Citizenship Question

With David Folkenflik

Trump's July Fourth extravaganza. DOJ reverses course on census citizenship question. DHS watchdog blasts conditions at migrant centers. The roundtable is here.

Kimberly Atkins, senior Washington correspondent for WBUR. (@KimberlyEAtkins)

Alexis Simendinger, national political correspondent for The Hill. (@ASimendinger)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

New York Times: "Squalid Conditions at Border Detention Centers, Government Report Finds" — "Overcrowded, squalid conditions are more widespread at migrant centers along the southern border than initially revealed, the Department of Homeland Security’s independent watchdog said Tuesday. Its report describes standing-room-only cells, children without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release.

"The findings by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General were released as House Democrats detailed their own findings at migrant holding centers and pressed the agency to answer for the mistreatment not only of migrants but also of their own colleagues, who have been threatened on social media.

"In June, inspectors from the department visited five facilities in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and found children had few spare clothes and no laundry facilities. Many migrants were given only wet wipes to clean themselves and bologna sandwiches to eat, causing constipation and other health problems, according to the report. Children at two of the five facilities in the area were not given hot meals until inspectors arrived."

CNN: "Trump at his rainy July 4th event: Americans 'part of one of the greatest stories ever told'" — "With jets roaring overhead and a poncho-clad crowd before him, President Donald Trump implored Americans to come together Thursday in a show of national pride — a rare unifying message from a deeply divisive President that came after days of controversy and criticism over his precedent-shattering military spectacle on the National Mall.

"'We must go forward as a nation with that same unity of purpose,' Trump said, filmed through rain-streaked bulletproof glass as showers beat steadily on his audience. 'As long as we stay true to our course, as long as we remember our great history, as long as we never, ever stop fighting for a better future, then there will be nothing that America cannot do.'

"After a flyover from the plane that normally serves as Air Force One, Trump delivered 20 minutes of remarks that were an homage to the nation's early history and its military. But he also spoke about more recent advancements in civil rights and gender equality. And he looked ahead, declaring the American flag would soon be planted on Mars."

CBS News: "DOJ will 'reevaluate' adding citizenship census question after Trump tweets" — "The Trump administration signaled on Wednesday that it is exploring a 'path forward' to add a question on U.S. citizenship to the 2020 census, despite a Supreme Court decision last week that appeared to have effectively blocked the government from going ahead with the controversial change.

"The Justice and Commerce departments said on Tuesday that printing of census forms that did not include the question had already begun. But later Tuesday night, President Trump said he had ordered the departments to do 'whatever necessary' to include the question, and pushed back against the notion that his administration had abandoned plans to do so.

"'I have asked the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice ... to do whatever is necessary to bring this most vital of questions, and this very important case, to a successful conclusion,' he wrote on Twitter."

Brian Hardzinski produced this hour for broadcast.