Thursday Briefing: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

Trump bolstered plans for an immigration crackdown

President Trump is taking steps to make good on his campaign promise to enact mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The Justice Department told U.S. attorneys in a memo issued yesterday to investigate and prosecute state and city officials if they refused to enforce the administration’s new immigration policies.

The move comes as the Homeland Security Department prepares to make raids in cities with high numbers of undocumented immigrants. About a dozen states and hundreds of cities across the country consider themselves “sanctuaries” for undocumented immigrants, and the raids raise the possibility of clashes with federal authorities.

The Trump team, concerned that career department employees will not execute orders they deem to be immoral or unlawful, has considered taking disciplinary actions against prosecutors who refuse to comply.

The U.S. has as many as 14 million undocumented immigrants.

Border control: Officials said the Pentagon would be sending 1,500 troops to the U.S. border with Mexico by the end of the month to fulfill one of Trump’s main goals to stem the flow of migrants into the U.S.

Prince Harry got an apology from Murdoch’s tabloids

Rupert Murdoch’s media group formally apologized to Prince Harry as part of a multimillion dollar settlement deal over a phone-hacking scandal. The 11th-hour deal avoided what would have been weeks of damaging testimony in a trial that was just about to begin.

News Group Newspapers admitted that one of its tabloids hacked Harry’s cellphone. It also offered a “full and unequivocal apology” on behalf of The Sun, another publication, for intruding into the prince’s life. While neither side disclosed the amount of the settlement, it was worth at least 10 million pounds ($12.3 million), according to two people with knowledge of the negotiation.

Mark Landler, our London bureau chief, told me that the deal was “unusual in that it acknowledges wrongdoing by Murdoch’s tabloid, The Sun, which the company had never done before.” He added that this allowed the company to avoid a trial, which could have led to a far “greater degree of accountability.”

How North Korean soldiers fight Russia’s battles

Ukrainian troops say that the North Korean soldiers aiding Russia essentially operate as a separate force with different tactics. They generally don’t regroup or retreat. Though trained for surgical strikes, Russia basically uses them as foot soldiers, a former Pentagon official said.

Their tactics have been costly, but effective: Ukraine’s military commander said that North Korean losses are climbing, but described the soldiers as “highly motivated, well trained” and “brave.”

The year is shaping up to be a record breaker for travelers. Our Travel team looked into the newest trends, including alpine sojourns in New Zealand, the allure of the “digital detox” and how solo travel became a group activity.

Lives lived: Bimla Bissell, the social secretary to four American ambassadors to India and a shrewd local guide to the complexities of a sprawling country, died at 92.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

The Oscars are wide open

The Academy Award nominations will be announced today, and unlike previous years where the winners’ names seemed already engraved on statuettes, this season remains fluid.

Kyle Buchanan, The Times’s awards season columnist, wants to be surprised. But he also has a few front-runners in mind. Here are his predictions for the top six Oscar categories, after taking into account industry chatter and the nods from earlier awards ceremonies.

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