NEWS OF THE DAY
Migrant teen’s death: U.S. border agents have temporarily closed their primary facility for processing migrants in South Texas one day after authorities say a 16-year-old died after being diagnosed with the flu at the facility. In a statement released late Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would stop detaining migrants at its processing center in McAllen, Texas. CBP says “a large number” of people in custody were found Tuesday to have high fevers. The agency says it is working to provide medical treatment to all those with fevers. Migrants apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley will be held at other locations until the situation is resolved, the agency said.
Trump finances: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he had no idea who wrote a confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo that says that tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president asserts executive privilege. He told the committee he believed he was following the law by refusing to turn over six years of President Trump’s tax returns, which had been requested by the Ways and Means Committee. In New York, lawmakers gave final passage to legislation Wednesday that would allow Trump’s state tax returns to be released to congressional committees. Meanwhile, New York U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos judge refused Wednesday to block congressional subpoenas seeking financial records from two banks that did business with Trump.
“Born alive” bill: Doctors would face prison sentences if they fail to treat babies “born alive” after an attempted abortion, under a bill approved Tuesday night by the Alabama House of Representatives. The measure patterned after legislation in Texas was approved after more than an hour of contentious debate. It comes a week after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation seeking to outlaw almost all abortions in the state. Representatives voted 66-18 for the bill that now moves to the Alabama Senate. The bill by Republican Rep. Ginny Shaver of Leesburg says doctors would face 20-year prison sentences for failing to provide reasonable care to save a “child born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion.” Democrats called it an attempt to demonize abortion providers and argued there is no record of such instances in Alabama.
Lame-duck law: Michigan’s attorney general said Wednesday that a Republican-enacted law making it harder to put proposals on the statewide ballot is unconstitutional, declaring that lawmakers had no authority to impose a geographic limit on circulating petitions. The law was enacted in December’s postelection “lame duck” session, and followed an unprecedented maneuver by GOP lawmakers and thenGov. Rick Snyder to weaken minimum wage increases and paid sick time requirements that began as ballot initiatives. The law imposes a geographic requirement on groups trying to gather hundreds of thousands of voter signatures to qualify for the ballot.