Week In The News: More New Migration Policy, Economic Anxiety, Greenland, G-7

With Sacha Pfeiffer

Economic anxiety. Trump’s new migration policy. The G7 rendezvous in France. Greenland stands its ground. The roundtable is here.

Catherine Rampell, Washington Post columnist who covers economics, public policy, politics and culture. (@crampell)

Hayes Brown, world news editor and reporter for BuzzFeed News. (@HayesBrown)

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

Washington Post: "Opinion: Stephen Miller is right about immigration — but not in the way that he means" — "In a Post profile over the weekend, White House senior policy adviser and de facto immigration czar Stephen Miller explained why he cares so much about immigration policy:

"'Immigration is an issue that affects all others,' Miller said, speaking in structured paragraphs. 'Immigration affects our health-care system. Immigration affects our education system. Immigration affects our public safety, it affects our national security, it affects our economy and our financial system. It touches upon everything, but the goal is to create an immigration system that enhances the vibrancy, the unity, the togetherness and the strength of our society.'

"Miller is right: Immigration does touch all those realms. Though perhaps not in quite the way he suggests.

"For instance, immigration affects our health-care system in many ways — including by supplying it with talent.

"In fact immigrants are overrepresented in the health industry. About 16.6 percent of the health industry is foreign-born, 13.7 percent of the U.S. population overall. A whopping 29.1 percent of physicians are foreign-born, according to a recent analysis of Census Bureau data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Immigrants also are overrepresented among dentists (23.7 percent); pharmacists (20.3 percent); registered nurses (16 percent); and nursing, psychiatric and home health aides (23.1 percent)."

BuzzFeed News: "Trump Is Reportedly Considering Buying Greenland Which Sure Why Not At This Point" — "Okay, look, everything is melting and/or on fire right now, but here’s something nobody saw coming.

"The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that President Donald Trump is considering having the US just buy Greenland. Yes, Greenland. All of it.

"Greenland — as I’m sure you all know — is that piece of land in the middle of the ocean on your maps that looks giant but is actually only kind of giant. Good news, Gall–Peters projection map fans: Your day has arrived."

New York Times: "Budget Deficit on Path to Surpass $1 Trillion Under Trump" — "The federal budget deficit is growing faster than expected as President Trump’s spending and tax cut policies force the United States to borrow increasing sums of money.

"The deficit — the gap between what the government takes in through taxes and other sources of revenue and what it spends — will reach $960 billion for the 2019 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. That gap will widen to $1 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said in updated forecasts released on Wednesday.

"The updated projections show deficits rising — and damage from Mr. Trump’s tariffs mounting — faster than the office had previously predicted. In May, the budget office said it expected a deficit of $896 billion for 2019 and $892 billion for 2020.

"That damage would be even higher if not for lower-than-expected interest rates, which are reducing the amount of money the government has to pay to its lenders. Still, the 2019 deficit is projected to be 25 percent larger than it was in 2018, and the budget office predicts it will continue to rise every year through 2023."

The Guardian: "Emmanuel Macron aims to ease US-Iran tensions at G7 summit" — "The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he will use this weekend’s G7 summit to attempt to de-escalate tensions between the US and Iran and seek to overhaul the global corporate tax code to make corporations like Google and Amazon pay more.

"World leaders including the US president Donald Trump, Britain’s Boris Johnson, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Japan’s Shinzō Abe will meet in the French coastal resort of Biarritz this weekend at a tense moment for international relations clouded by transatlantic rifts over trade, Iran and the climate emergency.

"Macron told reporters in Paris that he would meet Iranian officials ahead of the summit to make proposals to de-escalate tensions since Trump pulled the US out of Iran’s internationally brokered 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy."

Anna Bauman produced this hour for broadcast.