White House links border wall to DACA
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration released a list of hard-line immigration priorities on Sunday that threaten to derail efforts to protect from deportation hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought into the U.S. illegally as children.
The demands include overhauling the country’s green-card system, hiring 10,000 more immigration officers and building President Donald Trump’s promised wall along the southern border. Many are policies Democrats have explicitly said are off the table.
But Trump administration officials said the president will insist on their passage in exchange for supporting legislation that would extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
The White House also said it wants to boost fees at border crossings, make it easier to deport gang members and unaccompanied children, and overhaul the asylum system. And it wants new measures to crack down on “sanctuary cities,” which don’t share information with federal immigration authorities, among other proposals.
Democrats vehemently oppose many of the demands laid out in the administration list.
Harvey Weinstein ousted
NEWYORK — Harvey Weinstein, the sharp-elbowed movie producer whose combative reign in Hollywood made him an Academy Awards regular, was terminated from The Weinstein Company on Sunday following an expose that detailed decades of sexual abuse allegations made against Mr. Weinstein by actresses and employees.
In a statement, the company’s board of directors announced his termination Sunday night, capping the swift downfall of one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers and expelling him from the company he co-created.
The allegations triggered cascading chaos at the Weinstein Co. Numerous members of its all-male board have stepped down since Thursday. The prominent attorney Lisa Bloom, daughter of well-known Los Angeles women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, on Saturday withdrew from representing Mr. Weinstein, as did another adviser, Lanny Davis.
Health care alternatives
WASHINGTON— The White House is finalizing an executive order that would expand health plans offered by associations to allow individuals to pool together and buy insurance outside their states, a unilateral move that follows failed efforts by Congress to overhaul the health care system.
President Donald Trump has long asserted that selling insurance across state lines would trigger competition that brings down premiums for people buying their own policies. Experts say that’s not guaranteed, partly because health insurance reflects local medical costs, which vary widely around the country.
Moreover, White House actions may come too late to have much impact on premiums for 2018.
Mr. Trump was expected to sign the executive order nextweek, likely on Thursday, a senior administration official said Sunday.
It typically takes government agencies several months to carry out presidential directives, since they generally must follow a notice-and-comment process. Sign-up-season for individual health insurance starts Nov.1 and ends Dec. 15.
Banning bump stocks?
WASHINGTON— Seeking momentum for gun restrictions, Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday said only broader legislation would be effective in outlawing “bump stocks,” the device used by the Las Vegas gunman, and she introduced legislation to outlaw them. But the National Rifle Association urged more limited regulations, stopping short of a ban.
Ms. Feinstein said her legislation banning bump stocks had attracted “Republican interest” although the 38 co-sponsors so far were all Democrats. The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, has said he’s open to legislation.