Thursday morning news: May 24, 2018

President Trump leads immigration roundtable » President Trump participated in a roundtable discussion in New York on Wednesday, focusing on fighting crime related to illegal immigration. The president highlighted one gang in particular, which he said is exploiting the U.S. immigration system to infiltrate America.

TRUMP: MS-13 lives by the motto ‘kill, rape and control.’ That’s actually their motto.

Local, state and national law enforcement officials were also at the table, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who said law enforcement’s doing all it can to fight crime, but…  

ROSENSTEIN: There are several loopholes in federal law that create a particular problem.

Among the issues, he said, is that unaccompanied minors are not eligible for expedited removal—they have to go before an immigration judge. And he said some 6,000 unaccompanied minors each year fail to appear for scheduled hearings.

ROSENSTEIN: The consequence of these loopholes, Mr. President is that, although we’re doing everything we can to combat crime in the United States, we’re letting people in who are creating problems. We’re letting people in who are gang members. We’re also letting people in who are vulnerable, many of these alien children who have no parents, no family structure.

Meantime, Congress remains gridlocked on immigration reforms. Some moderate Republicans are working to force votes on competing immigration measures, including a legislative fix for the DACA program, which shields many law abiding young immigrants from deportation.

Congress rolls back Dodd-Frank rules » But lawmakers in the House did come together Wednesday on a bill to roll back portions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. That’s a law that boosted government oversight of banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The House voted 258 to 159 to ease some of the Dodd-Frank regulations for more than two dozen financial institutions. That followed Senate vote of 67-to-31 on the measure back in March.

Supporters say rolling back certain regulations will boost the economy and help help smaller community banks remain in business.

US diplomat suffers brain injury in China » U.S. officials are investigating reports of a possible sonic attack on diplomats in southern China. A U.S. government employee in Guangzhou reported abnormal sensations of sound and pressure. Doctors later diagnosed the employee with a concussion. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday:

POMPEO: We had an incident in Guangzhuo that was — that the medical indications are very similar and entirely consistent with the medical indications that have taken place to Americans working in Cuba. 

Those sonic attacks in Cuba last year are still-unexplained. At least 24 people working at the U.S. embassy in Havana suffered symptoms ranging from mild concussions to permanent hearing loss.

U.S. officials have dispatched a medical team to evaluate other personnel in Guangzhou.

Judge rules in favor of transgender teen » A federal judge has ruled that a Virginia school board’s bathroom policy violated the rights of a transgender teen. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Gavin Grimm, a biological female who identifies as a male, first sued the school district in 2015, after it approved a new bathroom policy. The policy required students to either use restrooms corresponding to their biological sex or use single occupancy restrooms.

U.S. District Court Judge Arenda Wright Allen declined to hear the Gloucester County School Board’s request to dismiss the case. She said the board violated the former student’s rights under the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and the federal Title IX protections against gender-based discrimination.

After Grimm filed the lawsuit, a federal judge initially sided with the school board. But an appeals court ruled in Grimm’s favor, citing a 2015 directive by the Obama Administration allowing students to choose a restroom based on their gender identity. The U.S. Supreme Court backed out of hearing the case in 2016 after the Trump administration withdrew the directive. That sent the case back to district court. Grimm graduated from Gloucester High School last year.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Kristen Flavin.

NFL announces anthem respect rule » NFL owners have unanimously approved a new policy requiring players to stand for the national anthem. However, they are not required to be on the field during the anthem.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said players who do not want to stand for the anthem can remain in the locker room.

GOODELL: We have been very sensitive in making sure that we give players choices, but we do believe that that moment is an important moment. We want people to be respectful of the national anthem. We want people to stand.

Any violations of the new policy will result in fines against the team, not individual players.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: Southern Baptists oust a top leader. And later, a story of American entrepreneurship. This is The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with governors in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, May 21, 2018, to discuss border security and restoring safe communities. 

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