First Thing: ‘Birth tourism’ in Trump administration’s sights after supreme court setback | US news

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Acting attorney general Todd Blanche said federal prosecutors and law enforcement will focus on fighting so-called “birth tourism,” which includes tourists, temporary visitors or undocumented immigrants who travel to the United States primarily to give birth and establish birthright citizenship for their children.

Blanche’s statement came a day after the US supreme court upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.

During oral arguments in Trump v Barbara in April, government attorney D John Sauer acknowledged that no one knows for sure how big of a problem “birth tourism” actually is. Donald Trump is now pushing lawmakers to create a new law creating exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to parents who lack permanent legal status in the United States.

• What did Blanche say? “There are other things that the federal government can do in the visa process and the application process to minimize or limit the chances of people coming here not to visit and not to do what they say for a tourist visa, just to have a baby and thus become a U.S. citizen. What we need to do as the Department of Justice is to make sure that our agents and the FBI are focused on stopping that.”

US judge blocked Trump attempt to limit mail-in voting

In a judicial setback for Donald Trump and his administration, a federal judge blocked a proposed restriction on mail-in voting across the United States. Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia ruled that the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to deny voting to voters in states that have not turned over voter rolls to the federal government should not go forward.

The order bars the postal service from enforcing the executive order Trump issued in March, calling for sweeping changes in the administration of elections nationwide.

How did activists react? Anthony Ashton, senior deputy general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said: “This decision is a critical step in protecting the rights of voters. The proposed USPS changes would have created unnecessary and unlawful barriers, directly infringing on the USPS’s authority to prioritize election mail. These barriers would have disproportionately harmed Black voters, who are more likely to rely on mail voting due to long-standing disparities in access.”

At least 18 people died in Russia’s drone and missile attacks on Kiev

At least 18 people were killed and dozens injured in Kiev overnight after Russia launched its latest major drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, local officials said. As dawn broke, fires were raging in various parts of Kiev; strikes or debris had hit residential buildings in several areas and a hotel on one of the city’s central boulevards. It is stated that the death toll may increase as local emergency services state that 86 people were injured, 70 of whom were hospitalized.

Russia, meanwhile, faces fuel shortages following Ukraine’s campaign of long-range drone attacks on the country’s oil refineries. While many regions of Russia had to implement gasoline rationing, Russian authorities declared a state of emergency in occupied Crimea.

• How does Ukraine portray its attacks on Russian targets? Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media: “There is an aggressor and a country defending itself in this war. Russia has no right to attack Ukraine, whereas Ukraine has the right to respond and hit legitimate military targets in Russia. Do not put the aggressor in the same breath with a country defending against attack.”

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