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French President Emmanuel Macron is heading to the United States for a state visit with President Donald Trump, looking to convince him of the need to keep a U.S. presence in Syria even after the defeat of Islamic State terrorists.

Ahead of his arrival in Washington Monday, Macron told Fox News during an interview at the Elysee Palace in Paris, “We will have to build a new Syria after war. That’s why I think the U.S. role is very important.”

He described the U.S. as “a player of last resorts for peace and multilateralism.”

Trump has said he wants to pull the estimated 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria as soon as possible, even as a week ago he ordered the U.S. military to join France and Britain in launching a barrage of missiles targeting Syrian chemical weapons facilities in response to a suspected Syrian gas attack. Trump’s planned troop withdrawal comes after the fall of Raqqa, IS’s self-declared capital of its religious caliphate in northern Syria.

“I’m going to be very blunt,” Macron said in the interview. “If we leave … will we leave the floor to the Iranian regime and [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad? They will prepare a new war.”

He said the U.S. and France are allied but that “even Russia and Turkey will have a very important role to play to create this new Syria and ensure the Syrian people decide for the future.”

Macron is set to arrive in Washington on Monday for three days of meetings, a speech in English to Congress, social events and Trump’s first state dinner.

His visit is occurring as an international chemical weapons monitoring group said its team of inspectors has collected samples at the site of the alleged gas attack two weeks ago in the Syrian town of Douma.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a report based on the findings and other information gathered by the team will be drafted after the samples are analyzed by designated laboratories.

The group added it will “evaluate the situation and consider future steps, including another possible visit to Douma.”

The fact-finding team’s attempts to enter the town were initially postponed for several days due to a series of security-related setbacks.

Emergency responders said at least 40 people were killed in the suspected April 7 gas attack, which the U.S. and its allies blamed on the Assad regime.

The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons, a violation of international law, and invited inspectors to investigate.

They arrived in Syria on April 14, the same day the U.S., Britain and France launched missiles targeting three chemical weapons facilities in Syria.

Ken Ward, the U.S. ambassador to the OPCW, claimed on April 16 the Russians had already visited the site of the chemical weapons attack and “may have tampered with it,” a charge Moscow rejected.

On April 9, Moscow’s U.N. ambassador told the U.N. Security Council that Russian experts had visited the site, collected soil samples, interviewed witnesses and medical personnel, and determined no chemical weapons attack had taken place.

U.S. military officials have said the airstrikes were designed to send a powerful message to Syria and its backers, showing that the United States, Britain and France could slice through the nation’s air defense systems at will.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States has given up nothing ahead of his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while Pyongyang has already curtailed its nuclear weapons development.

The U.S. leader said on Twitter, “We haven’t given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”

But Trump acknowledged that the eventual outcome of his talks with Kim, which could occur in late May or early June, is uncertain. Pyongyang yet to agree to dismantle its nuclear arsenal and, despite Trump’s claim, has not agreed to the permanent denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

South Korea has said that the North has expressed interest in doing away with its nuclear weapons.

Watch related video by VOA’s Michael Bowman:

“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t – only time will tell,” Trump said, “But the work I am doing now should have been done a long time ago!”

Trump, as is often the case, offered his thoughts after hearing television news commentary he didn’t like, this time from NBC News anchor Chuck Todd.

The president said, “Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd of Fake News NBC just stated that we have given up so much in our negotiations with North Korea, and they have given up nothing.”

Todd said of Kim’s overtures ahead of the summit, “He seems to be giving very little but making it seem like he’s giving a lot.”

The television newsman said, “There’s not many pre-conditions the United States is asking for. So far in this potential summit, North Koreans have gotten a lot out of it. What has the United States gotten yet? We don’t have a release of any of those Americans that they held captive, we don’t have a pledge of denuclearization as the ultimate goal. There’s a lot of things they are not promising that is raising some red flags.”
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Mitt Romney was forced into a Republican primary in his bid for U.S. Senate in Utah after losing a nomination battle Saturday at the state’s far-right-leaning GOP convention.

Romney remains the heavy favorite overall to replace long-serving Sen. Orrin Hatch in November and said he was ready to keep campaigning hard.

If he had won the party delegate vote at the convention, he would have bypassed a primary altogether. Instead, he was edged out by state lawmaker Mike Kennedy, who got 51 percent of the vote to Romney’s 49 percent.

GOP voters will decide between the two in a June 26 primary.

Romney secured his spot on the primary ballot by gathering 28,000 voter signatures but said Saturday that choice was partly to blame for his loss.

Romney, 71, went up against 11 other candidates at the convention, including one dressed as Abraham Lincoln, complete with vest and bow tie. Some candidates questioned Romney’s past criticism of President Donald Trump.

Romney pushed back against critics who said he’s an interloper in Utah politics by referring to his role in staging the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah.

“Some people I’ve spoken with have said this is a David vs. Goliath race, but they’re wrong,” Romney said in his speech. “I’m not Goliath. Washington, D.C., is Goliath.”

Kennedy, a doctor and lawyer, framed himself as an underdog taking on the “Romney machine.” At one point, he pitched in to sweep up tiny paper American flags that had been shot from a confetti cannon hours before.

Delegate Matt Murdoch, 28, said he voted for Kennedy because he’s a family doctor serving many of his neighbors in Alpine, south of Salt Lake City.

Stay-at-home mother Michelle Cluff said she liked Romney’s experience and believes he is ready to get to work as a senator.

Romney was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. While in office he signed legislation that greatly expanded access to health care through state-level subsidies and individual mandates to purchase insurance, much like Obamacare.

Romney asked for delegates’ votes after spending two months on the campaign trail visiting dairy farms, taking selfies with college students and making stump speeches in small towns.

After his failed 2012 presidential campaign, he moved to Utah, where he gained popularity after running as the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major political party.

He’s worked to keep the focus on state issues rather than his history of well-documented feuds with Trump.

The two men have shown signs of making peace, and Romney has accepted Trump’s endorsement for Senate. But Romney said Saturday he hasn’t decided whether he’ll endorse the president’s 2020 re-election bid.
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The World Bank’s shareholders on Saturday endorsed a $13 billion paid-in capital increase that will boost China’s shareholding but bring lending reforms that will raise borrowing costs for higher-middle-income countries, including China.

The multilateral lender said the plan would allow it to lift the group’s overall lending to nearly $80 billion in fiscal 2019 from about $59 billion last year and to an average of about $100 billion annually through 2030.

“We have more than doubled the capacity of the World Bank Group,” the institution’s president, Jim Yong Kim, told reporters during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. “It’s a huge vote of confidence, but the expectations are enormous.”

The hard-fought capital hike, initially resisted by the Trump administration, will add $7.5 billion paid-in capital for the World Bank’s main concessional lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Its commercial-terms lender, the International Finance Corp, will get $5.5 billion paid-in capital, and IBRD also will get a $52.6 billion increase in callable capital.

Lending rules

The bank agreed to change IBRD’s lending rules to charge higher rates for developing countries with higher incomes, to discourage them from excessive borrowing.

IBRD previously had charged similar rates for all borrowers, and U.S. Treasury officials had complained that it was lending too much to China and other bigger emerging markets.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier Saturday that he supported the capital hike because of the reforms that it included. The last World Bank capital increase came in 2010.

Cost controls

The current hike comes with cost controls and salary restrictions that will hold World Bank compensation to “a little below average” for the financial sector, Kim said.

He added that there was nothing specific in the agreement that targeted a China lending reduction, but he said lending to China was expected to gradually decline.

In 2015, China founded the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and lends heavily to developing countries through its government export banks.

The agreement will lift China’s shareholding in IBRD to 6.01 percent from 4.68 percent, while the U.S. share would dip slightly to 16.77 percent from 16.89 percent. Washington will still keep its veto power over IBRD and IFC decisions.

Kim said the increase was expected to become fully effective by the time the World Bank’s new fiscal year starts July 1. Countries will have up to eight years to pay for the capital increase.

The U.S. contribution is subject to approval by Congress.
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The National Museum of American History recently celebrated one of the most iconic American filmmakers of the past 25 years: Wes Anderson. From life-sized movie-scene backdrops to organized discussions, live music and drinks, the festival had something to offer for faithful fans and newcomers alike. Masha Morton filed this report.
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A nonprofit citizens group “United We Dream,” launched a new smartphone app that gives undocumented immigrants a virtual “panic button” if they are ever swept up in a raid or detained. The app provides legal advice and allows undocumented immigrants to notify their relatives quickly, when and if they fear that an interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), or local police, might lead to their arrest. Veronica Balderas Iglesias has more.
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The United States is calling out North Korea, China, Russia and Iran as “morally reprehensible governments” that violate human rights on a near-daily basis. But the State Department’s “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2017” also cited improvements in some countries’ records, including Liberia, Uzbekistan and Mexico. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more from the State Department.
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Students across the United States marked the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting by walking out of their classrooms. This protest against gun violence comes on the heels of a previous national school walkout and the March for Our Lives rallies. From Washington, VOA’s Jill Craig has more.
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Kremlin officials, from President Vladimir Putin down, wasted no time in condemning the U.S.-led punitive airstrikes on Syria a week ago, warning of dire consequences. But Russian state-run media has focused more efforts on disputing the alleged Syrian government chemical attack, which prompted the Western airstrikes in the first place, than on the U.S.-led retaliation itself.

The distinction might seem minor, but analysts say it reflects a Kremlin decision to try to reduce tension with the U.S. and prevent further escalation. Moscow is still holding out hopes for a summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, they say.

Amid rapidly deteriorating relations between Western countries and Russia, with disputes raging over a range of issues, including Kremlin meddling in the domestic politics of the U.S. and European states and aggressive Russian online disinformation campaigns, Kremlin officials also seemingly are avoiding directly criticizing Trump, in marked contrast to their open disdain for British Prime Minister Theresa May and Britain’s foreign minister, Boris Johnson.

On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told the RIA Novosti news agency he had faith that Putin and Trump won’t allow any armed confrontation to occur between the U.S. and Russia over Syria.

“Speaking about risks of a military confrontation, I am 100 percent sure that [the] militaries won’t allow this, and of course neither will President Putin or President Trump,” he said.

Lavrov confirmed that Trump had invited Putin to visit Washington during a phone call last month and added that the U.S. president had said he “would be happy to make a reciprocal visit [to Moscow].”The Kremlin is now expecting Trump to issue a formal invitation, say Russian officials. The White House previously announced that Trump had raised the possibility of a summit meeting.

Lavrov said prior to the Western airstrikes, which were carried out in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a rebel-held Damascus suburb that left a reported 70 dead and hundreds injured, Russian and U.S. military leaders discussed behind the scenes what would prompt Russian retaliation and how to avoid it.

The Kremlin’s “red lines” were mainly “geographical” and focused on ensuring no Russian servicemen or personnel would be killed or injured.

Lavrov said, “Anyway … these red lines’ were not crossed” during the Western airstrikes, which targeted three facilities in Syria, where Russia is backing President Assad’s forces in the civil war.

On Thursday, the Bloomberg news service reported the Kremlin had instructed officials to curb anti-U.S. rhetoric. And on Monday Russian lawmakers delayed moving draft legislation aimed at U.S. companies in retaliation for a fresh round of economic sanctions Washington imposed last month on Russia, which the U.S. Treasury Department said was payback for Russia’s “malign activity” in general.

The temporary withdrawal by Russian lawmakers of a draft law that would have impacted a broad range of trade with the U.S. came after Trump officials reassured Russia’s embassy in Washington on Sunday, April 15, that the White House wouldn’t be announcing more sanctions on Russia in the near future — despite an announcement to the contrary by the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

Trump has made no secret of his wish to improve relations with Russia. After congratulating Putin on his re-election in March, Trump tweeted that “getting along with Russia [and others] is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

On the campaign trail, Trump regularly expressed the same sentiment, arguing it would be in the U.S. interest for him to shape a strong personal relationship with Putin. Trump has met Putin twice as president, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last summer and briefly in Vietnam at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in November.

Problematic summit

But a Trump-Putin summit could prove highly problematic for Trump in terms of domestic U.S. politics. It would likely sharpen divisions in the U.S. over relations with Russia as well as stoke partisan rancor over a special-counsel investigation into allegations that Trump’s campaign colluded in Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump won bipartisan praise last month on Capitol Hill, which is more skeptical of Russia than the U.S. president, for ordering the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats, part of a coordinated Western move to punish the Kremlin for a March 4 nerve agent attack in England on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

But the U.S. leader also faced criticism last month for congratulating Putin on his re-election in a phone call in which he failed to raise the issue of the Skripal poisoning.

Trump’s foes fault him for shying away from criticizing Putin personally, arguing it gives credence to claims made by a former British spy, which are part of the special counsel probe, that the Kremlin holds compromising information on the U.S. president.

Domestic U.S. politics aside, any summit between the two leaders would be high risk and might be weighted with too many expectations that can’t be fulfilled.

In an interview with VOA last month, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman warned against thinking in terms of a reset with Russia, saying a sudden breakthrough is unrealistic.

“The resets and the redos of years gone by, both Republicans and Democrats, always end in disaster,” he said. “They heighten expectations to the point of our inability to achieve any of those expectations. Hopes are dashed. Relationships crumble. We’ve seen that over and over again.”

But he added it was important to maintain a dialogue and to look for “natural openings to build trust in small ways.”

He acknowledged the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is complicating U.S.-Russia diplomacy.

“I would be disingenuous if I said it didn’t impact the environment in which all of this plays out. And certainly the impact it has on members of Congress and the American people, who are a big part of fashioning the nature of our bilateral relationship.”

Rewarding aggressive behavior

Some analysts and former officials worry that holding a summit in the near future with relations between the two powers at their worst point since the Cold War would be widely seen as a reward for aggressive Russian behavior.

On Thursday, Prime Minister May accused Russia of trying “to undermine the international system,” pointing to an aggressive Russian internet disinformation campaign “intended to undermine the actual institutions and processes of the rules-based system.”

She said in the weeks after a suspected chemical attack in Syria and the poisoning of a Russian dissident in England, there had been a 4,000 percent increase in activity by Kremlin-linked social media trolls and automated accounts propagating what she called lies.
…

Kremlin officials, from President Vladimir Putin down, wasted no time in condemning the U.S.-led punitive airstrikes on Syria a week ago, warning of dire consequences. But Russian state-run media has focused more efforts on disputing the alleged Syrian government chemical attack, which prompted the Western airstrikes in the first place, than on the U.S.-led retaliation itself.

The distinction might seem minor, but analysts say it reflects a Kremlin decision to try to reduce tension with the U.S. and prevent further escalation. Moscow is still holding out hopes for a summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, they say.

Amid rapidly deteriorating relations between Western countries and Russia, with disputes raging over a range of issues, including Kremlin meddling in the domestic politics of the U.S. and European states and aggressive Russian online disinformation campaigns, Kremlin officials also seemingly are avoiding directly criticizing Trump, in marked contrast to their open disdain for British Prime Minister Theresa May and Britain’s foreign minister, Boris Johnson.

On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told the RIA Novosti news agency he had faith that Putin and Trump won’t allow any armed confrontation to occur between the U.S. and Russia over Syria.

“Speaking about risks of a military confrontation, I am 100 percent sure that [the] militaries won’t allow this, and of course neither will President Putin or President Trump,” he said.

Lavrov confirmed that Trump had invited Putin to visit Washington during a phone call last month and added that the U.S. president had said he “would be happy to make a reciprocal visit [to Moscow].”The Kremlin is now expecting Trump to issue a formal invitation, say Russian officials. The White House previously announced that Trump had raised the possibility of a summit meeting.

Lavrov said prior to the Western airstrikes, which were carried out in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a rebel-held Damascus suburb that left a reported 70 dead and hundreds injured, Russian and U.S. military leaders discussed behind the scenes what would prompt Russian retaliation and how to avoid it.

The Kremlin’s “red lines” were mainly “geographical” and focused on ensuring no Russian servicemen or personnel would be killed or injured.

Lavrov said, “Anyway … these red lines’ were not crossed” during the Western airstrikes, which targeted three facilities in Syria, where Russia is backing President Assad’s forces in the civil war.

On Thursday, the Bloomberg news service reported the Kremlin had instructed officials to curb anti-U.S. rhetoric. And on Monday Russian lawmakers delayed moving draft legislation aimed at U.S. companies in retaliation for a fresh round of economic sanctions Washington imposed last month on Russia, which the U.S. Treasury Department said was payback for Russia’s “malign activity” in general.

The temporary withdrawal by Russian lawmakers of a draft law that would have impacted a broad range of trade with the U.S. came after Trump officials reassured Russia’s embassy in Washington on Sunday, April 15, that the White House wouldn’t be announcing more sanctions on Russia in the near future — despite an announcement to the contrary by the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

Trump has made no secret of his wish to improve relations with Russia. After congratulating Putin on his re-election in March, Trump tweeted that “getting along with Russia [and others] is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

On the campaign trail, Trump regularly expressed the same sentiment, arguing it would be in the U.S. interest for him to shape a strong personal relationship with Putin. Trump has met Putin twice as president, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last summer and briefly in Vietnam at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in November.

Problematic summit

But a Trump-Putin summit could prove highly problematic for Trump in terms of domestic U.S. politics. It would likely sharpen divisions in the U.S. over relations with Russia as well as stoke partisan rancor over a special-counsel investigation into allegations that Trump’s campaign colluded in Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump won bipartisan praise last month on Capitol Hill, which is more skeptical of Russia than the U.S. president, for ordering the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats, part of a coordinated Western move to punish the Kremlin for a March 4 nerve agent attack in England on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

But the U.S. leader also faced criticism last month for congratulating Putin on his re-election in a phone call in which he failed to raise the issue of the Skripal poisoning.

Trump’s foes fault him for shying away from criticizing Putin personally, arguing it gives credence to claims made by a former British spy, which are part of the special counsel probe, that the Kremlin holds compromising information on the U.S. president.

Domestic U.S. politics aside, any summit between the two leaders would be high risk and might be weighted with too many expectations that can’t be fulfilled.

In an interview with VOA last month, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman warned against thinking in terms of a reset with Russia, saying a sudden breakthrough is unrealistic.

“The resets and the redos of years gone by, both Republicans and Democrats, always end in disaster,” he said. “They heighten expectations to the point of our inability to achieve any of those expectations. Hopes are dashed. Relationships crumble. We’ve seen that over and over again.”

But he added it was important to maintain a dialogue and to look for “natural openings to build trust in small ways.”

He acknowledged the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is complicating U.S.-Russia diplomacy.

“I would be disingenuous if I said it didn’t impact the environment in which all of this plays out. And certainly the impact it has on members of Congress and the American people, who are a big part of fashioning the nature of our bilateral relationship.”

Rewarding aggressive behavior

Some analysts and former officials worry that holding a summit in the near future with relations between the two powers at their worst point since the Cold War would be widely seen as a reward for aggressive Russian behavior.

On Thursday, Prime Minister May accused Russia of trying “to undermine the international system,” pointing to an aggressive Russian internet disinformation campaign “intended to undermine the actual institutions and processes of the rules-based system.”

She said in the weeks after a suspected chemical attack in Syria and the poisoning of a Russian dissident in England, there had been a 4,000 percent increase in activity by Kremlin-linked social media trolls and automated accounts propagating what she called lies.
…

Editor’s note: With four people working on (im)migration stories every day, we still struggle to keep up with all the relevant news. So, we wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration stories every week — the ones that will affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners — most. We want you to know what’s happening, why, and how it could impact your life, family or business.

Questions? Want to know more about an immigration issue? Email the team. (immigrationunit@bbg.onmicrosoft.com)

National Guard heads to US-Mexico border

At the start of the week, Homeland Security officials said some 900 National Guard troops are headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff and to curb illegal activity in the region, such as drug smuggling and undocumented border-crossers.  

What to expect from this? Other presidents have ordered troops to the border, so Trump isn’t setting a precedent on that front. Officials say there may eventually be up to 4,000 troops stationed in the four border states. VOA’s Ramon Taylor is on the southern border this week and will have plenty to report in the coming days. In the meantime, check out his Instagram for updates, including this snap of a Mexican police officer reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Del amor y otros demonios” (“Of Love and Other Demons”).

​Seeking sanctuary

Around the U.S., dozens of undocumented immigrants with deportation orders are holed up in churches, where they feel more protected from the long arm of immigration officials. In some cases, their children visit them to keep the feeling of being a family going.

What’s next? Trump and his administration have tried to target cities that decline to take action against undocumented immigrants, but as recently as Thursday, they’ve been stymied by the legal system: An appeals court said the federal government can’t block public safety funds to these so-called sanctuary cities. Expect the legal battles to continue.

From desperation in East Africa to desperation in Yemen

Yemen has been locked in civil unrest — that escalated into a regional conflict — for years. Yet desperate asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa still find their way to the country. But with a power vacuum and ongoing bombing from Saudi Arabia, “it is very chaotic and very difficult to really know who is really in control,” a U.N. refugee agency spokesman told VOA. And there is no recourse for the migrants, who describe abuse and deplorable conditions. Meanwhile, the U.S. — in the midst of massive, Trump-led cuts to its refugee program — has accepted about 200 refugees from both Ethiopia and Somalia, and none from Yemen since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2017.

To compare how much has changed: By this time last year, roughly 600 Ethiopian refugees and 5,000 Somalis had come to the United States, but only 18 Yemenis, so that low number hasn’t changed much.

Supreme Court backs ruling on some immigrant criminal offenders

The U.S. Supreme Court made deporting some legal immigrants with criminal records a bit more difficult this week, with a 5-4 ruling that addressed inconsistencies in what is considered a “crime of violence,” and consequently grounds for expulsion from the country.

On deck for next week

On April 25, at 10 a.m. EST, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s order limiting travel from largely Muslim-majority countries (Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen). The court will assess whether the travel ban, which is currently in effect, violates immigration law and the Constitution. VOA will be inside and outside the high court Wednesday for the proceedings.
…

Editor’s note: With four people working on (im)migration stories every day, we still struggle to keep up with all the relevant news. So, we wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration stories every week — the ones that will affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners — most. We want you to know what’s happening, why, and how it could impact your life, family or business.

Questions? Want to know more about an immigration issue? Email the team. (immigrationunit@bbg.onmicrosoft.com)

National Guard heads to US-Mexico border

At the start of the week, Homeland Security officials said some 900 National Guard troops are headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff and to curb illegal activity in the region, such as drug smuggling and undocumented border-crossers.  

What to expect from this? Other presidents have ordered troops to the border, so Trump isn’t setting a precedent on that front. Officials say there may eventually be up to 4,000 troops stationed in the four border states. VOA’s Ramon Taylor is on the southern border this week and will have plenty to report in the coming days. In the meantime, check out his Instagram for updates, including this snap of a Mexican police officer reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Del amor y otros demonios” (“Of Love and Other Demons”).

​Seeking sanctuary

Around the U.S., dozens of undocumented immigrants with deportation orders are holed up in churches, where they feel more protected from the long arm of immigration officials. In some cases, their children visit them to keep the feeling of being a family going.

What’s next? Trump and his administration have tried to target cities that decline to take action against undocumented immigrants, but as recently as Thursday, they’ve been stymied by the legal system: An appeals court said the federal government can’t block public safety funds to these so-called sanctuary cities. Expect the legal battles to continue.

From desperation in East Africa to desperation in Yemen

Yemen has been locked in civil unrest — that escalated into a regional conflict — for years. Yet desperate asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa still find their way to the country. But with a power vacuum and ongoing bombing from Saudi Arabia, “it is very chaotic and very difficult to really know who is really in control,” a U.N. refugee agency spokesman told VOA. And there is no recourse for the migrants, who describe abuse and deplorable conditions. Meanwhile, the U.S. — in the midst of massive, Trump-led cuts to its refugee program — has accepted about 200 refugees from both Ethiopia and Somalia, and none from Yemen since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2017.

To compare how much has changed: By this time last year, roughly 600 Ethiopian refugees and 5,000 Somalis had come to the United States, but only 18 Yemenis, so that low number hasn’t changed much.

Supreme Court backs ruling on some immigrant criminal offenders

The U.S. Supreme Court made deporting some legal immigrants with criminal records a bit more difficult this week, with a 5-4 ruling that addressed inconsistencies in what is considered a “crime of violence,” and consequently grounds for expulsion from the country.

On deck for next week

On April 25, at 10 a.m. EST, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s order limiting travel from largely Muslim-majority countries (Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen). The court will assess whether the travel ban, which is currently in effect, violates immigration law and the Constitution. VOA will be inside and outside the high court Wednesday for the proceedings.
…

A spray of flowers covered the closed silver casket of former first lady Barbara Bush in the sanctuary of a Houston church as hundreds of mourners began arriving Friday to pay their final respects.

People waited in line hours early for security screening before boarding shuttle buses to attend a public viewing at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where Bush and her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, regularly attended services.

Many women wore blue, Barbara Bush’s favorite color, and pearls, her go-to neckwear jewelry.

Lucy Orlando was one of the more than 100 people in line 90 minutes before bus service began, traveling from Weston, Florida, to pay her respects. Originally from Haiti, the 74-year-old Orlando said has admired Barbara Bush for many years, including her work in promoting literacy.

“She was a very sweet lady and she loves people,” said Orlando, who was carrying a gray suitcase containing framed photos of the couple and members of their family, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura.

Varney Johnson, a 49-year-old social worker originally from Liberia, said he also came to honor the former first lady’s work in supporting literacy efforts, saying: “This woman dedicated her life to educating children.”

Jessica Queener, who works in special education and wears a cochlear implant to help with hearing loss, said Barbara Bush’s work in education and helping people with disabilities “really resonates with me on a personal level but also professionally.” Queener was in Houston from Washington, D.C., with her husband for work, and they decided to attend events honoring the former first lady, whom Queener also credits for being a positive influence on her husband when he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

A hearse containing the former first lady’s casket arrived before daybreak at the Houston church, which is the nation’s largest Episcopal church. Her body was to be in repose from noon until midnight. Among the officials allowed in earlier were the Senate’s majority whip, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

An invitation-only funeral is set for Saturday. She will be buried later in the day behind her husband’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in a gated plot surrounded by trees and near a creek where the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Robin, is buried. She died of leukemia in 1953.
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A spray of flowers covered the closed silver casket of former first lady Barbara Bush in the sanctuary of a Houston church as hundreds of mourners began arriving Friday to pay their final respects.

People waited in line hours early for security screening before boarding shuttle buses to attend a public viewing at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where Bush and her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, regularly attended services.

Many women wore blue, Barbara Bush’s favorite color, and pearls, her go-to neckwear jewelry.

Lucy Orlando was one of the more than 100 people in line 90 minutes before bus service began, traveling from Weston, Florida, to pay her respects. Originally from Haiti, the 74-year-old Orlando said has admired Barbara Bush for many years, including her work in promoting literacy.

“She was a very sweet lady and she loves people,” said Orlando, who was carrying a gray suitcase containing framed photos of the couple and members of their family, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura.

Varney Johnson, a 49-year-old social worker originally from Liberia, said he also came to honor the former first lady’s work in supporting literacy efforts, saying: “This woman dedicated her life to educating children.”

Jessica Queener, who works in special education and wears a cochlear implant to help with hearing loss, said Barbara Bush’s work in education and helping people with disabilities “really resonates with me on a personal level but also professionally.” Queener was in Houston from Washington, D.C., with her husband for work, and they decided to attend events honoring the former first lady, whom Queener also credits for being a positive influence on her husband when he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

A hearse containing the former first lady’s casket arrived before daybreak at the Houston church, which is the nation’s largest Episcopal church. Her body was to be in repose from noon until midnight. Among the officials allowed in earlier were the Senate’s majority whip, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

An invitation-only funeral is set for Saturday. She will be buried later in the day behind her husband’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in a gated plot surrounded by trees and near a creek where the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Robin, is buried. She died of leukemia in 1953.
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