The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for June 14
Gov. JB Pritzker traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify with the governors of New York and Minnesota in a U.S. House hearing on state sanctuary laws. The hearing was a key moment in the nation's ongoing unrest over the White House's immigration policies. When protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles turned violent this week, President Donald Trump ordered National Guard and Marine troops to go to California to quell the unrest. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other blue state governors saw this move as an overstep that only made the situation worse. Chicago's own protests this week stayed relatively peaceful and are expected to continue over the weekend.
The City Council and the mayor's office were busy this week. Aldermen advanced an ordinance that would allow them to block short-term rentals such as Airbnbs when voters in a specific precinct call for it, the Board of Education voted to approve a new interim schools chief and the city could be on the hook for $24 million to settle three wrongful conviction cases.
Thursday was a bad day for air travel. A JetBlue flight from Chicago rolled off the runway at Boston's airport and an Air India flight crashed minutes after takeoff, killing 241 people on board. A single passenger survived.
In the world of sports, the Cubs bullpen has been hot this month. The White Sox made a trade this week, and one of their biggest fans, the pope, was seen donning a White Sox hat. The pontiff will deliver a virtual message at Rate Field on Saturday. Plus, Chicago Sky star Allie Quigley recently announced that she is retiring. The WNBA legend remains one of the best shooters in the history of women's basketball.
Now for the fun stuff. Test your knowledge of who said what this week with the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz, this time with excerpts and utterances from June 8 to 14.
Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
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Forbes
a minute ago
- Forbes
New Immigration Service Director May Pursue An Anti-Immigration Agenda
The new director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will likely focus the agency on the Trump administration's anti-immigration agenda. On July 15, 2025, Joseph Edlow began as USCIS director following a Senate confirmation vote along party lines. Edlow's job will be to implement the policies of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The agenda will include restricting asylum, directing adjudicators to tighten the approval process for immigration benefits applications and ending or controlling the ability of international students to work in the United States after graduating from U.S. universities. USCIS Will Be An Immigration Enforcement Agency In an opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation, Joseph Edlow said, 'USCIS must be an immigration enforcement agency.' That sends a message to adjudicators: Treat applications similarly to those during Donald Trump's first term, when denials increased and Requests for Evidence skyrocketed at USCIS. In a question submitted to Edlow, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), the committee's ranking member, wrote, 'The Homeland Security Act does not include language stating that USCIS is an immigration enforcement agency. . . . The statute makes clear that unlike ICE and Customs and Border Protection, USCIS's primary mission is adjudication and processing of applications, not enforcement. Will you retract your inaccurate statement that 'USCIS must be an immigration enforcement agency?'' Edlow replied in writing, 'No. The statement was not inaccurate as the adjudication of immigration benefits is inherently an act of enforcement of the immigration laws.' Jon Wasden of Wasden Law said the USCIS transition from a 'service' to an 'enforcement' agency began under Barack Obama and intensified during Donald Trump's first term. He notes that even during the Biden administration, USCIS continued to take funds and reallocate them to the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate within USCIS, which he believes violates the Homeland Security Act. Wasden is harsh in his assessment: 'Both parties have created an environment where applicants are seen as the enemy, treated as criminals, and officers are above the law. I wish I could lay all this at the feet of Stephen Miller, but his Democrat predecessors share the blame.' Still, USCIS differed significantly under Joe Biden compared to Trump's first term. The Biden administration's final rule on H-1B visas proved to be far more favorable for employers, universities and high-skilled foreign nationals than anything produced during the Trump years. Policy experts viewed the Trump administration's interim final rule on H-1B visas, which a court blocked for violating the Administrative Procedure Act, as designed to prevent, or at least discourage, employers from using the H-1B category by narrowing eligibility and piling on requirements. A Department of Labor interim final rule would have priced many H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants out of the U.S. labor market by inflating the required salaries. 'Positive actions the Biden administration took on high-skilled immigration included taking steps to issue an 'unprecedented' number of employment-based green cards, increasing the validity of Employment Authorization Documents for up to five years, providing favorable guidance for O-1A visas and national interest waivers and making it easier for some employment-based green card applicants to stay if they have 'compelling circumstances,' according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis. 'O-1A visa filings and requests for national interest waivers increased significantly after the new guidance.' The NFAP analysis noted that the Trump administration carried out what judges found to be unlawful policies on H-1B visas for nearly four years. An H-1B is often the only practical way for a high-skilled foreign national, including an international student, to work long term in the United States. Denial rates for H-1B petitions for initial employment reached 24% in FY 2018 and 21% in FY 2019, compared to 6% in FY 2015. (H-1B petitions for 'initial' employment are primarily for new employment, typically a case that would count against the H-1B annual limit.) Only lawsuits, court rulings and a legal settlement ended the policies. Edlow served as chief counsel and deputy director for policy at USCIS during part of the first Trump administration, when these policies were implemented and defended in court. Immigration attorneys expect Joseph Edlow and his team to chip away wherever possible at policies the Biden administration implemented that were beneficial to employers and high-skilled foreign nationals and immigrants. In an interview with Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times, Edlow also set his sights on making it more difficult for immigrants to pass the civics test for naturalization by increasing the number of required correct answers. Edlow And Miller Hope to Dismantle America's Immigration Talent Pipeline Joseph Edlow made clear during his confirmation hearing that he hopes to dismantle America's immigration talent pipeline by ending the ability of international students to work on Optional Practical Training or STEM OPT after graduating from U.S. universities. Economists, businesses and educators say that ending post-graduation OPT and STEM OPT would halt America's best programs for attracting and retaining international talent. At the confirmation hearing, Edlow discussed his plans in response to a question from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) about what changes he would make to Optional Practical Training if confirmed as USCIS director. 'I think the way in which OPT has been handled over the past four years, with the help of certain decisions coming out of the D.C. Circuit Court, have been a real problem in terms of misapplication of the law,' said Edlow. 'What I want to see would be essentially a regulatory and subregulatory program that would allow us to remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school.' There already exists a lesser-used program, Curricular Practical Training, for international students to work while in school. Edlow plans to use his position within the administration to eliminate OPT and STEM OPT, at least in practical terms, by removing the ability of F-1 students to gain employment authorization after completing their coursework. Despite Edlow's disagreement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided 2-1 in October 2022 that the Department of Homeland Security allowing international students to work on OPT and STEM OPT is legally permissible. Stephen Miller, the chief architect of the Trump administration's immigration policies, has long opposed international students working in the United States. While on the staff of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Miller helped draft legislation that would have ended OPT and compelled international students to leave the United States for a decade (for undergraduates and master's degree recipients) before they could work in H-1B status. Ph.D. recipients would need to gain two years of experience outside of America before obtaining an H-1B visa. Optional Practical Training allows international students to work for 12 months in their field of study before or after completing their course requirements. STEM OPT allows students to gain practical experience through working an additional 24 months (beyond OPT) in a science, technology, engineering or math field. For many immigration opponents, ending OPT and STEM OPT is perhaps mainly about preventing international students from obtaining H-1B status. The Bush administration favored granting international students an additional 24 months on STEM OPT to improve their chances in the annual H-1B lottery. Economists view H-1B restrictions and ending OPT and STEM OPT as shortsighted and likely to push more hiring and resources outside of the United States. 'The clearest evidence is that foreign graduates of U.S. universities cause major increases in innovation,' according to research by George Mason University economics professor Michael Clemens. 'Immigration policy that broadly seeks ways to entice foreign graduates of U.S. universities to remain in the United States, the overwhelming mass of evidence suggests, would serve the national interest. Terminating OPT would do the opposite.' The National Academy of Sciences pointed to research by Britta Glennon, an assistant professor at the Wharton UPENN, that 'shows that H-1B restrictions and the inability of companies to hire a sufficient number of high-skilled workers in the United States results in offshoring tech jobs and reducing R&D investment in the United States and leads companies to send more jobs, resources, and innovations outside the United States.' Two other policies that Edlow can direct or influence would restrict the ability of international students to remain in the United States. First, an upcoming rule will change the way USCIS allots H-1B petitions by 'weighting' the H-1B selection process to favor individuals at the highest salary levels. The process would occur whenever the agency receives more H-1B registrations than the annual limit of 85,000 would permit. The rule, which could be published within weeks, is expected to make it much more difficult for international students and other early-career professionals to gain H-1B status. Second, the Trump administration is likely to move forward with a rule to end duration of status for international students by allowing only fixed admission periods. USCIS adjudicators could decide on hundreds of thousands (and cumulatively millions) of extension applications that students will be forced to file if they hope to remain in the United States beyond an initial grant of two or four years. The more restrictive USCIS adjudicators are told to be on granting extensions, the less likely international students will choose to come to America. Despite Donald Trump's favorable statements about international students on a Silicon Valley podcast in 2024, his administration's policies will result in fewer international students remaining in the United States. It's become clear that Stephen Miller, not Donald Trump, makes the Trump administration's immigration policies. 'Edlow will definitely work with Miller to kill the OPT system as well as change the H-1B lottery selection criteria,' said Jon Wasden. 'Processing delays will increase across the board. This is the same tactic they previously used to threaten H-4 EAD for the spouses of H-1B visa holders in Trump's first term.' He notes that increasing procedural requirements, such as biometrics and new forms, can sometimes have the same impact as a regulation that overtly restricts a program or category. A lawsuit halted USCIS's implementation of a biometrics requirements that had caused long delays in renewing employment authorization for the spouses of H-1B visa holders. Immigration attorneys say Edlow's expertise is in asylum and removal. That means he will likely be at the center of finding ways to streamline asylum denials or closures to facilitate the Trump administration's enforcement priorities. An NFAP analysis of the Trump administration's immigration policies found that during Donald Trump's first term, his administration did not enact or propose any measures to expand the entry of high-skilled foreign nationals or immigrants to the United States. Joseph Edlow's role as USCIS director will be to ensure that record continues in Trump's second term.
Forbes
8 minutes ago
- Forbes
Senators Shaheen And Murkowski Ask For $54.6 Billion To Aid Ukraine
New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski jointly introduced legislation in the Senate last week proposing $54.6 billion in aid to Ukraine across 2025 and 2026. The bill arrives amid intensified Russian drone and missile strikes across Ukraine. 'There is continued bipartisan resolve to sustain Ukraine's valiant fight for freedom,' Shaheen said in a statement. She added that the United States must 'help Ukraine obtain the air defense needed to protect its civilian population centers, including schools and hospitals, from Russia's relentless drone and missile attacks.' 'This legislation ensures Ukraine can continue to resist Russia's illegal and brutal war,' Murkowski added. She noted that the bipartisan bill will incorporate the use of 'seized Russian assets to hold aggressors accountable, while [also]Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has provided over $175 billion in aid to Ukraine, which includes defense, medical, humanitarian, and financial assistance. This support, combined with aid from other countries, has helped the Ukrainians to defend themselves from Russia's ongoing invasion. Critics within the United States have argued that aid to Ukraine has been very costly. They believe that the U.S. should prioritize domestic programs rather than providing foreign assistance. Additionally, they claim that the U.S. should not involve itself in Ukraine's defense. But according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, when calculating the cost of this aid per U.S. citizen per month, the assistance equates to just two cups of coffee. In exchange, the Ukrainians have used this aid to successfully defend their homeland without the loss of a single American soldier. For example, since the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainians have destroyed two-thirds of Russia's pre-invasion tank force, and decimated nearly half of Russia's naval fleet on the Black Sea. Multiple Western reports, independently verified by various governments, also found that the Russians have sustained over one million casualties during the war. Based on these results, U.S. assistance has been highly effective. The proposed legislation by Shaheen and Murkowski is also timely. On July 31, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2026. The proposed bill, which was advanced by the committee by a vote of 26-3, includes an additional $800 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). Republican and Democratic members of the committee have also highlighted the importance of this assistance, suggesting that there is still bipartisan support for Ukraine. 'The Secretary of the Army rightly calls Ukraine the Silicon Valley of warfare,' stated Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell during last month's Senate Appropriations Committee meeting. 'Shutting off engagement with Ukraine would undermine our military's efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield. Like our friends on the Armed Services Committee, we are restoring funding for the USAI and other security assistance programs that make America safer.' 'I would say support for Ukraine is a billion dollars,' added Delaware Senator Chris Coons while members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense spoke with reporters last week. 'I think there's broad enthusiasm for bringing [Russia's] war to a just conclusion, but also broad awareness that that means not peace at any price,' he noted. Coons ended his statement by saying that the United States needs to strengthen 'Ukraine so that it is able to defend itself.' Even the White House has supported recent motions to send aid to Ukraine. On July 14, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would send additional defense assistance to Ukraine. The president also shared that the U.S. would sell weapons to NATO, which could then be provided to the Ukrainians. Based on these developments, it appears that there is a shift in how some elected officials in the Senate and the White House view aid to Ukraine. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have made it clear that they view providing additional assistance to Ukraine as a priority. Support from the House of Representatives, however, will be more challenging. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has previously stated that he 'does not have an appetite for further Ukraine funding.' There are also some Republican House members who oppose future aid to Ukraine. But if Senate Republicans and Democrats pass the newly proposed legislation by Shaheen and Murkowski, and if the White House continues with its shift toward providing additional aid to Ukraine, then Johnson may be persuaded. There are also hundreds of elected officials in the House who have previously supported Ukraine, suggesting that the new bill would have bipartisan support as well. In other words, the new Ukraine aid bill may face some challenges. Nonetheless, Shaheen and Murkowski will speak with their colleagues to persuade them to support their aid bill for Ukraine. It remains to be seen how the Senate will proceed with the proposed legislation.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Redistricting wars heat up
Presented by DRIVING THE DAY — Assembly and Senate Democrats each held all-caucus Zoom meetings Sunday night to discuss the rapidly moving battle over redistricting, according to several people familiar with the calls. The briefings came as the showdown over redistricting escalated sharply, with Democratic lawmakers in Texas fleeing the state in an effort to deny a quorum to Republican lawmakers seeking to redraw lines there. California Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, are pushing to respond in kind if Texas and other states proceed with their own redistricting. The presenters, including California Reps. Pete Aguilar and Zoe Lofgren, talked about the current state of play, including how the state's congressional district boundaries could change and a briefing on polling on how California voters would respond to lines being redrawn, according to one person familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to describe them. — With help from Jeremy B. White. RIP RECALL — The effort to recall Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass debuted with a bang five months ago. Today, it will die with barely a whimper. The campaign brimmed with potential … Bass was indisputably vulnerable following her handling of the January wildfires, and organizers were backed by the deep pockets of Silicon Valley philanthropist Nicole Shanahan. But slick launch videos and petitions don't translate to the arduous work of actually qualifying a measure for the ballot. The recall committee never filed for approval to start collecting signatures and in June preemptively stood down, stating that a recall is 'no longer our vehicle for change.' The Monday qualification deadline makes it official. The failure to qualify 'tells us that people didn't have the appetite for a recall, and they wanted the problems in the city to get fixed, whether it had to do with the fire, homelessness or crime,' said Doug Herman, a political strategist working with Bass. A spokesperson for the recall effort did not respond to a request for comment. Ironically, it was Bass' former (and potentially future) foe Rick Caruso who helped drive a stake into the recall, when he declared the effort was 'not a good idea' not long after the committee launched. Caruso, a centrist Democrat, would have lent a bipartisan sheen to the effort. Instead, Bass and her allies could paint the effort as a GOP-adjacent partisan attack that would have trouble catching on in deep-blue Los Angeles. More upside for Bass … She could raise unlimited donations to fend off the recall, scooping up checks far larger than the $1,800 maximum donations for her reelect campaign. Bass raised nearly $750,000 to the anti-recall account and put that money to use on consulting, polling, digital lists — basically, all the building blocks that will come in handy for her reelection campaign. She posted a far more meager sum in her 2026 account: less than $180,000 for the first six months of the year. While the figure drew some flak online, Bass' team said it was necessary for the anti-recall campaign to be the top fundraising priority at the time. 'It needed to be done because of the seriousness of the recall and the fact that it had financial backing,' Herman said. GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. MEA CULPA: Friday's edition of California Playbook mischaracterized how much money Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis has on hand. She has $4.6 million on hand in her governor's race account, with an additional $4.6 million stowed away in her lieutenant governor's account — most of which her campaign says can be transferred. It also misstated Chad Bianco's fundraising edge over Steve Hilton. Like what you're reading? Sign up to get California Playbook in your inbox, and forward it to a friend. You can also text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. Big News: On Wednesday, Aug. 27, POLITICO is hosting its inaugural California policy summit. At The California Agenda, some of the state's most prominent political figures will share the stage with influential voices in tech, energy, housing and other areas to chart the path forward for a state at the forefront of critical policy debates. The live and streamed event is free, but advanced registration is required. Request an invite here. KAMALA WATCH UNWELCOME OFFER — Kamala Harris said when she opted not to run for governor that she planned to help elect Democrats across the country. Many operatives within her party, still smarting from her 2024 defeat, would be glad if she didn't run again in 2028 — and don't want her help in 2026, Dustin, Melanie and three of our colleagues report. 'If she was gravity for our candidates running in center-right districts in 2024, then she will be gravity for them in 2026,' said Lauren Harper Pope, co-founder of WelcomePAC, which supports center-left candidates. 'So,' she added of Harris' pledge to campaign for Democrats, 'no thank you.' Across the country in Southern California, a Democratic strategist who was also granted anonymity to speak frankly said he would prefer Harris 'go away' because voters equate her with Biden. The greater Los Angeles area, similar to metro New York, could be central to Democrats' quest to take control of the House of Representatives. 'I wouldn't want her in my district,' the strategist said. CAMPAIGN YEAR(S) NEXT DOMINO — Without Harris in the field, the looming question in the governor's race is whether Caruso will run — staging a political comeback after losing to Bass. Harris' exit has, in many insiders' eyes, widened Caruso's path to the governor's mansion. Supporters lit up Caruso's phone after Harris made her announcement, according to a confidante, some urging him to run for governor, while others pushed the mayoral race. 'The race has opened up a bit. Kamala had weaknesses and a ceiling, but she had support, too,' said the confidante, who was granted anonymity to discuss Caruso's view of the political playing field. 'Everything clicked up a notch, maybe two notches, as far as the excitement level. But in terms of a plan, it's going to be a while.' Read more from our Jeremy B. White. TOP READS BEHIND A PORTRAIT OF SUCCESS — The new CEO of Calexit, the organization campaigning for California's secession, projects opulence. He resides in a luxurious estate in Calabasas and claims to own lithium mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sir. Dr. Xavier Mitchell, Ph.D., however, appears 'to be an extremely prolific fraudster, with a civil and criminal record of financial swindling and deceit,' our Will McCarthy reports in a deep look at Mitchell's background. Mitchell has been accused of stealing a man's identity, applying for fraudulent business loans, forging documents, attempting grand theft and perjury. None of his companies appears on major exchanges, but rather on so-called OTC (over-the-counter) markets that have less stringent reporting requirements and allow securities (often penny stocks) to be traded directly between two parties. Although Mitchell does seem to have created a number of LLCs, at least one of them is currently suspended by the Franchise Tax Board, and the minuscule stock prices of others hardly denote grand wealth. CLIMATE AND ENERGY CALIFORNIA GOV & TEXAS TEA — Newsom spent the last four years provoking the big oil boogeyman. Now, it's haunting him, writes our Alex Nieves. Newsom's casting of Big Oil as the villain behind the state's perpetually high fuel prices signaled the industry's waning influence in Sacramento. But the plot took a dramatic turn for the governor and his party when two refineries in the state announced closure plans. 'Refineries all across the globe are struggling,' Newsom said last month in unveiling a suite of proposals to keep refineries solvent, including holding talks with potential buyers and offering incentives to boost in-state oil drilling. 'We've got some challenges, and so just require some new considerations.' The about-face, Alex writes, 'is emblematic of Democrats' course correction on cost-of-living issues in the wake of the presidential election — and provides a real-time demonstration of the political risks of pursuing an aggressive transition away from fossil fuels.' But, but, but … Chevron isn't ready to give state leaders kudos yet. Read Friday's California Climate to see why one of the company's top executives says he still has little faith that California will make long-term changes the industry thinks are needed. NUMBER OF THE DAY $16.90: What California's minimum wage will increase to at the start of next year. That's up from $16.50 thanks to adjustments for inflation. Top Talkers HUERTA ON FARM RAIDS — Storied California labor leader Dolores Huerta spoke with our colleague Samuel Benson about the Trump administration's arrest of farmworkers, and she's not optimistic about how coming harvest seasons will play out for crops or employees. 'It's an atrocity, what they've been doing to the immigrant community,' Huerta said. The longtime labor activist says the federal government's current approach is 'very, very different' from anything she's seen before. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND — San Francisco's progressive Democratic Sheriff Paul Miyamoto explained his surprising endorsement of Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in the governor's race last week. 'I honestly don't know what his stance is on every issue,' Miyamoto said Thursday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'I'm looking at this as supporting a peer and a friend, someone who's doing the exact same job that I am.' AROUND THE STATE — The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night upheld a ruling against the Trump administration's 'roving' immigration patrols, a setback for the president's deportation agenda. (LA Times) — Financial disclosures show San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's campaign has spent unprecedented sums on consultants to polish his public image. (SF Standard) — Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes said a Navy fighter jet that crashed on his farm will cost him upland cotton crops. (CBS47/KSEE24) PLAYBOOKERS KEYNOTE — Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights arm who served as vice chair of the California Republican Party, will speak during a Saturday brunch at the party's fall convention. She'll go on at 11 a.m. on Sept. 6 in Orange County. PUT A RING ON IT — Christopher Mika, national security adviser for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and Sonja Packard got engaged on the Speaker's Balcony last Tuesday. STORK ALERT — Madailin Callahan Johnson was born in the wee hours of Aug. 2 to Jamie Callahan, deputy chief of staff to Newsom, and Mike Johnson (not the House speaker). Callahan will be on leave until January, and Rhys Williams will fill the deputy role until her return. BIRTHDAYS — former President Barack Obama … British royal Meghan Markle … actor Billy Bob Thornton … director Greta Gerwig … Claire Berry of Rep. Judy Chu's (D-Calif.) office ... Hector Escobar, property claims field adjuster, Mercury Insurance BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Sunday): Assemblymember Chris Ward (favorite cake: Black Forest cake) … Sydney Hilbush of Rep. John Garamendi's (D-Calif.) office ... (was Saturday): Vice President JD Vance … Mark Martin, Assembly budget consultant … David O'Brien at California Community Colleges … Chelsea Haines at the Association of California Water Agencies ... Gigi Sohn WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
