0:00
News Story
TX: Children separated from their parents in Texas cry in recording
An audio recording adds real-life sounds of suffering to a contentious policy debate that has so far been short on input from those with the most at stake: immigrant children. More than 2,300 of them have been separated from their parents since April, and many of them are detained in Texas.
CO: Colorado bars state resources from being used to separate immigrant families
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has signed an executive action that bars state resources from being spent on separating immigrants from their children at the border.
UT: Utah officials wary of marijuana deadline
If Utah voters pass a medical marijuana legalization ballot initiative in November, licensed dispensaries will have to open by Jan. 1, 2021. State officials say they may not be able to legally write, receive public comment and implement needed rules quickly enough to meet that deadline.
RI: Rhode Island will let ‘dreamers’ continue to get drivers licenses
Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is expected to sign a bill that allows “dreamers,” immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children and have lawful status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, to continue receiving drivers licenses.
DE: Delaware Democrats might not have votes to revive proposed assault weapons ban
Democrats in the Delaware Senate will make a last-ditch effort to resuscitate a bill that would ban the sale of numerous semi-automatic weapons in the state. But to do so, they will need help from at least one Republican.
MD: Maryland crab houses to go without workers this summer
Many Maryland crab houses hoping for a lucky break from the federal government now expect to remain mostly idle through the summer, without the migrant laborers needed to perform the painstaking picking to produce tubs of jumbo lump meat. The H-2B work visas were awarded by lottery for the first time this year.
MO: Long wait for adoption records frustrates Missouri adoptees
A law enacted to help Missouri adoptees track down copies of their birth records is being dogged by delays. More than 3,000 adoptees are affected by the delay, now stretching to nine months.
KS: Judge strikes down Kansas proof of citizenship voter law
A federal judge has struck down a Kansas voter citizenship law that Secretary of State Kris Kobach had defended. She also ordered Kobach to take more hours of continuing legal education after he was found in contempt and was frequently chided during the trial over missteps.
MA: Massachusetts ‘millionaires tax’ ballot issue rejected
Massachusetts’ highest court rejected a ballot question that would have raised the state income tax on the highest earners and put that money into transportation and education.
NJ: New Jersey school bus crash survivor, 11, calls for better seat belts
A fifth-grader who survived a school bus crash that killed a schoolmate and a teacher in New Jersey last month is urging state lawmakers to require seat belts with shoulder straps on buses.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
