Melania Trump Makes Surprise Visit to Border Facility

First lady Melania Trump touched down in McAllen, Texas Thursday making a publicly unannounced and hastily planned trip to get a first-hand look at the crisis affecting immigrant families at the US border. 

Melania Trump is the first Trump family member to personally witness the situation that has captured the country's attention over the past several weeks. Trump stopped at the Upbring New Hope Children's Center, which is part of Lutheran Social Services of the South, a Department of Health and Human Services-overseen facility.

During a roundtable discussion, Trump asked several questions including how many times the children speak with their families. She was told twice a week, but the official noted that there is a process to verify that the persons they are communicating with are their families. She also asked what kind of physical and mental health the children come to the facility in. 

A spokesperson for the first lady told reporters the trip was “100 percent her idea. She absolutely wanted to come.” The first lady intends to inform the President on what she saw.

Gallup Poll: Record-High 75% of Americans Say Immigration Is Good Thing

A Gallup Poll conducted from June 1-13, 2018, asked participants if immigration is a “good thing”.

Question: On the whole, do you think [immigration/LEGAL immigration] is a good thing or a bad thing for this country today?

                                Good Thing                 Bad Thing

Immigration:                75%                             19%

Legal Immigration:      84%                             13%

These results mark a six-point drop from one year ago in the percentage of those preferring a reduction in immigration. In the past 20 years, the highest reading for those calling for a decrease in immigration levels was in October 2001, about a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. 

80% of Republicans and leaners and 92% of Democrats and leaners say legal immigration is a good thing for the U.S.

Clinton Foundation Hit with Racketeering Lawsuit

Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation have been hit with a racketeering lawsuit in a Florida court. The lawsuit, filed by Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, requested to have the Florida judge seize the private server on which Hillary Clinton and her aides hosted their emails while she served as secretary of state. 

The racketeering, influenced and corrupt organizations, or RICO case alleges the former first couple and their family philanthropy traded political favors for donations or generous speaking fees for Bill Clinton while his wife was the nation's chief diplomat. 

Klayman said a major reason for his lawsuit involves the fact that Cheryl Mills, then-chief of staff to Hillary Clinton, and the secretary of state herself “lied to the lower court” by claiming there were no documents related to a pair of Freedom of Information Act requests he filed in 2012 while knowing those records actually did exist on the private server.

Trump Sees the War with the Press As a Plus

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order that is designed to keep immigrant families together who have been detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. This order still retains the Trump Administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

“I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “At the same time, we are keeping a very powerful border, but continue to be zero tolerance.” 

Trump’s executive order would keep most families together under the Department of Homeland Security, except in cases where an adult may pose a threat to a child. 

Vice President Mike Pence also appeared with Trump at the signing. He said that the order would enable families to stay together in the immediate future but added that it was still up to Congress to come up with a permanent solution, presumably as part of a larger immigration package.

Secret Service Notified After Peter Fonda's Obscene Tweet About Barron Trump

Actor Peter Fonda has apologized to President Donald Trump's family for a "vulgar" tweet from Wednesday about Trump’s youngest son, Barron, and the separation of migrant families. 

Peter Fonda, 78, is an Oscar-nominated actor and the son of Hollywood legend Henry Fonda and younger brother of actress Jane Fonda. He has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration. 

Fonda's tweet, which has since been deleted, said “We should rip Barron Trump from his mother's arms and put him in a cage with pedophiles and see if mother will will [sic] stand up against the giant a--hole she is married to. 90 million people in the streets on the same weekend in the country. F---" 

First lady Melania Trump's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, called the tweet "sick and irresponsible," adding that the Secret Service has been notified. A Secret Service spokesman said the agency is aware of the tweet but declined to comment, citing the agency's practice of not speaking about protective matters. 

Fonda apologized saying, “I tweeted something highly inappropriate and vulgar about the president and his family in response to the devastating images I was seeing on television. Like many Americans, I am very impassioned and distraught over the situation with children separated from their families at the border, but I went way too far. It was wrong and I should not have done it. I immediately regretted it and sincerely apologize to the family for what I said and any hurt my words have caused.”

Possible Putin Summit in July

There is a possible meeting in the works between Vladimir Putin and President Trump during Trump’s visit to Europe next month. Two possibilities for the meeting are either before the NAFTO summit in Brussels on July 11 or after Trump’s visit to Britain on July 13. 

President Trump has shown keen interest in restoring Putin’s place in the international community. At the G-7 summit earlier this month, he proposed that Russia should be re-admitted to the Group of Eight. 

Trump has also expressed a desire to meet with Putin in the hopes of forming a close personal relationship with the Russian leader and repairing damaged ties between Washington and Moscow. Members of Trump’s own party have scoffed at the goal, given Russia’s interference in the 2016 election that is now under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Opioid Crisis Sending Thousands of Children into Foster Care

The opioid epidemic has sent a record number of children into foster and state care system. An analysis of foster care systems around the country shows the number of children entering state or foster care rising sharply, especially in states that are hit the hardest by opioid addiction. 

The children entering state care are younger, and they tend to stay in the system longer than ever before. Among states that have been hardest hit by the epidemic, the populations of children in foster or state care has risen by 15% to 30% in the last four years. 

“A huge number of children are coming into the system now because of parental addiction to opioids that a lot of time has been brought on by pain medication,” said Wendi Turner, executive director of the Ohio Family Care Association. 

After a decade of decline, the number of children in foster care across the country began to rise in 2010, just as opioid deaths began to spike. 

A study from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, released in March, found foster care populations increased by 10% between 2012 and 2016. The study attributed the growth to the rising number of overdose deaths among parents. 

In West Virginia, home of the highest overdose rates in the nation, the foster population has increased by 42% since 2014. In Ohio, the number of children in state custody has grown by 28% since 2015. Foster populations are up more than 30% in Alabama, Alaska, California, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota and New Hampshire since 2014. Substance abuse is a factor in about a third of all cases in which a child is removed from the home, according to a Department of Health and Human Services report.

Severe Obesity Rates Surging in Rural America

Severe obesity rates have been on the rise nationwide since the turn of the century, disproportionately affecting children and adults in rural communities, two U.S. studies suggest, performed by JAMA Network. Severe obesity rates were higher in rural areas for youth as well as for men and women. 

Researchers examined data on height and weight collected from 2001 to 2016 for adults 20 and older and for youth ages 2 to 19. The findings show that severe obesity rates climbed 29% among young people. Obesity rates in rural areas rose about 9% among children and teens and 36% for adults. 

Obesity and severe obesity were more common among black and Hispanic youth than white children and teens, and also more likely to develop in older youth and children from households headed by an adult with limited education.

Children and teens are considered obese when their weight is higher than 95% of other youth their same age and sex. They’re considered severely obese when their weight is 20% higher than the cutoff for obesity. 

For adults, a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 is considered obese, and a BMI of at least 40 is classified as severely obese. 

Mail Time!

• Please name a country on this planet that has no immigration laws or border security and protection? Why does America have no right to protect our border? That's insane. 

• Why can't the U.S. just turn illegal immigrants around and send them back to Mexico regardless of where they are citizens? Mexico turns a blind eye when they enter Mexico illegally. So why not make it Mexico's problem to deal with them? 

• I would like your help in explaining to me just what it means when the Secret Service gets involved when the First Family receives threats. What actions do they actually take?

• Last night Monica Crowley stated that the Comey, Strzok, and Russia investigation made Watergate look like child's play and your response was "I wouldn't go that far." Why not? By the way, I purchased premium membership for my wonderful 70 YO mom on Mother's Day and she absolutely LOVES it as do I. Thank you!

Word of the Day: Flapdoodle