America's immigration crisis

By Meg Wagner, Brian Ries and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 6:03 p.m. ET, June 29, 2018
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9:36 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

Border City mayor says Trump's claims of an undocumented immigration crisis are "totally fiction"

From CNN's Marc Rod

Tony Martinez — the Democratic mayor of Brownsville, Texas, which shares a border with Mexico — pushed back on President Donald Trump's repeated claims of an undocumented immigration crisis on the US border with Mexico.

"What we have is a crisis that's been manufactured through words and it's totally fiction," Martinez told CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront" Tuesday.

He continued: "Our streets are safe, our community is moving along as it should be, we have a lot of great projects going on and none of us are fearful of our lives because of this immigration situation."

Martinez criticized rhetoric about a supposed border crisis. "I think it's a bit insidious to say the things that they're saying," he added. "The discourse that's going on and the conversation that's going on is very troubling for mayors across the nation."

Martinez also defended the undocumented immigrants coming across the border.

"These immigrants are coming over here, turning themselves in, because they're fleeing for their lives," he said.

7:32 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

This mother says her son thinks she abandoned him

A mother says her 4-year-old son refuses to speak with her because he's angry about being separated.

"He's mad at me. He didn't want to talk to me because he thinks I abandoned him," Miriam told reporters in Spanish on Monday.

She said an immigration official approached her and told her to get her son ready because they were taking him away to a shelter.

When she asked why, the official told her because they were now separating children from their parents. The official also assured her that they would reunite them when she leaves the country.

She said her son was still sleeping when she dropped him off in a truck. Her son was taken to New York.

Miriam hasn't been able to sleep since they were separated.

"I never imagined that they would take my son away," she said.

5:22 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

Melania Trump is planning another immigration facility visit to "check on children," her office says

From CNN's Kate Bennett

First Lady Melania Trump visits the Luthern Social Services of the South's Upbring New Hope Children Center in McAllen, Texas on June 21, 2018.
First Lady Melania Trump visits the Luthern Social Services of the South's Upbring New Hope Children Center in McAllen, Texas on June 21, 2018.

First lady Melania Trump will again pay a visit to immigration facilities in coming days, her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham confirmed to CNN.

"Yes, Mrs. Trump plans to visit additional facilities sometime this week," Grisham said when asked whether a second trip is in the works.

Trump "wants to continue to check on children," her communications director said. 

It is not known where exactly Trump plans to go but it is likely the first lady will see first-hand an immigration processing detention center, Grisham said, as had been part of her plan in McAllen, Texas, last Thursday, before flooding conditions prevented her from going.

The first lady's trip last week: Her visit last Thursday was overshadowed by a sartorial decision she made to wear a $39 Zara jacket emblazoned on the back with the words "I really don't care. Do U?" for the departure from and return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. She did not wear the jacket while in Texas.

Grisham said in a statement: "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe."

But upon Melania Trump's return to Washington, the President tweeted a contradictory message: "'I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?' written on the back of Melania's jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!"

4:44 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

More than 2,000 migrant children are still separated from their parents, HHS says

From CNN's Tal Kopan

There are currently 11,800 migrant children nationwide in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services — of which 2,047 kids were separated from their parents at the border under the government’s zero tolerance policy, an HHS official told reporters Tuesday.

Commander Jonathan White, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said they were working “to link every child" in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement with their families.

He said HHS was working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to "ensure that contact occurs between parents and children,” and added that they were trying to reunify the children and parents.

“This is a very dynamic and moving process," he said.
3:33 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

This is what the family separation protest in Los Angeles looks like

Natalie Rotstein/Twitter
Natalie Rotstein/Twitter

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in Los Angeles today, and protesters are rallying against the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy, which lead to thousands of separations.

Local faith leaders and others linked hands in the streets ahead of Sessions’ appearance on Tuesday. UCLA student Natalie Rotstein took these photos of the protest.

Natalie Rotstein/Twitter
Natalie Rotstein/Twitter

“I fully support the actions of the clergy and appreciate their dedication to using their positions of power to appeal to others within their religious communities and protect those who are being victimized by these policies,” Rotstein, who participated in the protest, told CNN.

More than two dozen immigration activists were arrested as they gathered outside a federal court building in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, CNN affiliate KTLA reported.

3:00 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

More than a dozen states are suing the federal government over separated families

From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph

More than a dozen states are suing the federal government Tuesday regarding its handling of families separated at the border, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“We're asking a federal district court to stop the federal government from this policy of separating families,” Cuomo said.

New York is among 16 states that joined the lawsuit, which will be filed in Washington.

He said the lawsuit asks the federal government to notify individual states about the whereabouts of separated children, and allow states to provide help and human services to any child in need.

Watch more:

2:15 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

At least 25 immigration activists arrested in L.A. while protesting Jeff Sessions visit

A clergy member is arrested by police while at an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles.
A clergy member is arrested by police while at an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles.

More than two dozen immigration activists were arrested as they gathered outside a federal court building in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday morning during a planned visit by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, CNN affiliate KTLA reported.

Police were heard declaring an unlawful assembly after a line of demonstrators, among them several clergy members, was seen linking arms across Spring Street outside the US Attorney's Office building, blocking the road to traffic as they chanted, "Kids belong at home, not in cages."

Many of the protestors wore children’s onesies pinned to their chests to represent the immigrant youth separated from their parents by the Trump administration. Some also wore blue arm bands, indicating they intended to be taken into custody for their actions.

So far, 25 people have been arrested for failure to disperse, said Los Angeles Police Officer Jeff Lee. People were seen being taken away in handcuffs around 10 a.m., hours after they had assembled.

1:45 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

Trump: I want people to come to the US, but through a merit system

President Trump, speaking during a lunch with Republican members of Congress, said he wants people to come to the US — as long as it's through a merit-based system.

He said American businesses need immigrants that can "help our country and these companies."

"And by the way, I want people to come into our country because our country is doing so well. And we have companies moving into our country, like, at numbers nobody has seen in a long time. We need workers. So I want people to come in. They have to come in through the merit system, though. They have to come in so that they can help our country and these companies," Trump said.

Watch the moment:

1:30 p.m. ET, June 26, 2018

Trump: "We have the worst immigration laws in the history of the world"

Decrying "the worst immigration laws in the history of the world," President Trump questioned why the Justice Department has requested more immigration judges for immigrants at the southern border.

"They want us to choose 5,000 judges," Trump said. "How do you choose 5,000 judges? Can you imagine the corruption just from a normal standpoint, just common sense. Can you imagine the corruption? Go to the barber shop, grab somebody, make him a judge. Everybody is being made a judge."

The immigration courts decide whether immigrants have a legal right to stay in the US or should be deported -- and those cases include people arriving at the border as well people from the interior of the US, who may or may not have had legal status at some point.

But Trump's suggestion has several problems, including the fact that there are fewer than 350 immigration judges nationwide and the Justice Department has budgeted for only 100 more.