G7 May Exclude U.S. At Summit
Macron threatens rare rebuke of U.S. at G-7. WaPo: "French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday threatened to join with other world leaders to issue a rare rebuke of the United States at a global summit here this weekend, drawing immediate and sharp replies from President Trump. Macron said Trump could be excluded from joining with other leaders in a joint declaration of unity at the end of a global summit here, a very unusual move that was meant to isolate Trump’s recent burst of trade threats aimed at numerous U.S. allies. 'The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be,' Macron wrote on Twitter. 'Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force.' Trump appeared unmoved, accusing Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of hurting the United States with unfair trade practices. Trump also said Trudeau is “being so indignant,” an unusually personal attack aimed at one of the United States’ closest allies."
DOJ Refuses To Defend ACA Law
Sessions explains to Congress rationale for not defending ObamaCare. The Hill: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday defending the Department of Justice's (DOJ) rationale for not defending the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. 'As you know, the Executive Branch has a longstanding tradition of defending the constitutionality of duly enacted statutes if reasonable arguments can be made in their defense,' Sessions wrote. 'But not every professionally responsible argument is necessarily reasonable in this context,' he continued, adding this is 'a rare case where the proper course is to forgo defense' of the law. The department argued in court on Thursday that key components of the Obama-era law are unconstitutional, siding in large part with a challenge to the law from 20 GOP-led states."
Carson's HUD May Raise Rents On Poor
Carson tempers HUD plan that would raise rents. Detroit News: "U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Thursday backed off aspects of a controversial proposal this spring that would have led to higher rents for low-income households in the United States... Carson said he's told the media that the consideration to raise rents was tied to HUD's budget restrictions. At that time, he said, it had been 'the only option.' The 'Make Affordable Housing Work Act,' announced on April 25, would allow housing authorities to impose work requirements, would increase the percentage of income poor tenants are required to pay from 30 percent to 35 percent, and would raise the minimum rent from $50 to $150 per month. For Metro Detroit, the move would boost housing costs by 21 percent on average, according to the new analysis. 'As far as the rents are concerned, they’re going to be simplified,' Carson said Thursday, adding the numbers used for gross, rather than adjusted income, will depend on negotiations with Congress. 'But again bear in mind: We would only raise rents if we have to raise rents. If we don’t have to raise them, that’s not part of the proposal. That has nothing to do with self-sufficiency, raising the rents."
U.S. Army Ambushes Pizza Delivery Man
Immigrant delivery driver who brought pizza to Brooklyn military base faces deportation. WNYC: "When an Ecuadorian pizza delivery man with an outstanding order of deportation showed up to deliver pies at the Fort Hamilton military base in South Brooklyn on Friday, he showed his New York City-issued municipal ID and entered the base, just as he had done before, according to his wife. But a military police officer ordered Pablo Villavicencio-Calderon to provide more documentation. He didn't have any, and was detained by the officer, who then called Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE agents showed up and took him to a detention center in New Jersey, where he remains and is expected to be deported, according to the agency. The case captured the attention of immigration advocates and local politicians Wednesday. They staged a press conference and march, arguing that soldiers should not be deputized to carry out deportation functions. Villavicencio-Calderon, who did not have a criminal record but was living in the country without documentation, has two daughters, ages 2 and 3, who are American citizens. His wife, Sandra Chica, is also an American."
Iowa Student Killed After Deportation
Iowa student killed after being deported to Mexico. Des Moines Register: "Manuel Antonio Cano Pacheco should have graduated high school in Des Moines last month. The oldest of four siblings should have walked across a stage in a cap and gown to become a proud symbol to his sister and brothers of the rewards of hard work and education. Instead, Manuel died a brutal death alone in a foreign land, a symbol of gang supremacy in a country plagued by violent drug cartels. It happened three weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement returned him to Mexico, a country he had left at age 3 when his parents brought him here without a visa. The fact that America was the only home he has known made Manuel eligible to apply for and be granted DACA status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated by former President Barack Obama. It exempted from deportation certain young people, referred to as DREAMERS, who were brought to the U.S. without papers as children."