The Supreme Court voted 6-3 on Thursday to allow the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security can now , a program that protects a total of .
The Supreme Court also voted 6-3 to for the Trump administration to potentially revive an immigration policy once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The court overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day.
Meanwhile, a liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million a top official at the National Park Service said.
Heres' the latest:
UN agency pauses evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz
A U.N. maritime agency has paused the evacuation of ships through after the British military said a vessel was hit Thursday by a projectile off the coast of Oman.
The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.
It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after vessels to stop using a U.N.-approved route through the strait without Tehran’s permission.
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Reflecting Pool liner was cut with a sharp knife or razor, National Park Service says
A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million a top official at the National Park Service says.
The agency reported the June 9 incident to U.S. Park Police, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration’s work on the project.
The police report indicates damage to the pool, “including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,″ Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.
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‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center in Florida is officially closed, governor says
The immigration center built in the Florida swamps known as is closing after nearly a year of holding thousands of immigrant detainees, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.
DeSantis said the center was always supposed to be temporary and now federal officials have enough ability to handle detention and deportation in more permanent facilities.
Officials announced a of the facility earlier in June, saying hurricane season made it unsafe to keep the detainees in the Florida Everglades. All the of people kept at the isolated airstrip had been sent to other facilities.
Immigration advocates said the tents were never safe or humane to hold people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers, and have described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.
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Homeland Security touts TPS win at Supreme Court
The top legal official at Homeland Security praised the Supreme Court’s decision on temporary protected status.
“The Court vindicates DHS yet again,†said James Percival, the department’s general counsel in a statement on X.
“The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense,†Percival said.
DHS secretary says the department is reevaluating warehouses purchased for ICE detention
Markwayne Mullin says his department is reevaluating the eleven warehouses his predecessor purchased to use as immigration detention facilities.
Mullin says some just “probably won’t work†and suggested a lack of “due diligence†when it came to purchasing the warehouses. They were purchased under Mullin’s predecessor, Kristi Noem.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement received huge pushback around the country after the purchases became known.
When Mullin came into office, he paused any new purchases and federal officials have been looking at ways to offload some of them.
Federal judge halts Trump’s election executive order seeking to create a federal voter list
The executive order also sought to limit who can receive a mail ballot.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president’s order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year’s midterm election cycle.
Plaintiffs , both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump’s order should be because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, noting in her ruling that the provisions of Trump’s order “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.â€
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Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians
The Supreme Court on Thursday legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.
The decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly , a program that protects a total of .
The Trump administration argued judges can’t second-guess immigration officials’ decisions about the protections, which were intended to be temporary.
Immigration attorneys said the countries remain unsafe to return, and the administration ended them in an unlawfully hasty process tinged by racial animus. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.
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Supreme Court clears way for the Trump administration to revive a restrictive immigration policy
The policy was once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day under the Obama administration and during Trump’s first term.
Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe to await their turn. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase of asylum seekers at the border.
isn’t in place now, though authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers.
The administration argues that metering is a critical tool that’s been used by presidents of both parties and should stay available.
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Trump’s showdown with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy
President Trump was attending a private lunch Wednesday with the Senate GOP when he wondered aloud how anyone could have voted for a a day earlier that sought to block further U.S. military action against .
Cassidy, one of the four Republicans who backed the measure, was ready with an answer.
“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’†Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, recounted to reporters afterward. “This is supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.â€
Things deteriorated from there.
When Cassidy told Trump he would continue voting for war powers resolutions until there’s a congressional briefing on developments in Iran, the senator recalled that Trump “did not particularly care for my comments†and “raised his voice.â€
Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic,†the person said.
Cassidy acknowledged losing his temper, which he said was “not appropriate.â€
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— Steven Sloan and Lisa Mascaro
Oil tankers use new route through Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian threats
Several tankers made their way out of on Thursday using a new route promoted by a U.N. maritime agency. vessels using the path, which runs along the coast of Oman.
The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing talks about the with the United States.
Traffic through the strait has increased but is still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 a barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.
The two sides are still debating terms of the deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of .
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Key inflation gauge jumps to 3-year high in latest sign of affordability challenges
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked, a sign rising costs could pose for President Trump as near.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March.
The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI buildout. Rising prices have caused the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to keep their this year, a reversal from January when they had penciled in . Some economists forecast the central bank could lift rates this year instead.
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Lawmakers demand answers as turmoil over Reflecting Pool repair continues
Congressional Democrats called for investigations Wednesday into renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as the ongoing drama over the president’s problem-plagued, $16 million continued to roil the capital.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate demanded answers about the saga that’s been highlighted in the news cycle for weeks, even as the White House has repeatedly blamed — without evidence — and other problems. , President Donald Trump said, without providing details, and a local wildlife nonprofit conducted found near the Reflecting Pool. The president has said the pool may need to be drained once again for additional repairs.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, challenged the Trump administration over no-bid contracts for work on the Reflecting Pool, saying they were awarded to vendors with previous relationships to Trump.
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Senate Republicans reject war powers resolution after Trump berates them at Capitol meeting
Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.
Trump harangued GOP senators face-to-face earlier in the day for allowing a on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with , one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.
Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.
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