Reuters US Domestic News Summary

"They desperately need more resources," Biden said after being briefed by border patrol agents and walking alongside the Rio Grande river that separates Brownsville and Mexico. US Supreme Court's move to hear Trump's immunity claim gives him gift of delay The U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to reject Donald Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss, according to legal experts, but its decision to spend months on the matter could aid his quest to regain the presidency by further delaying a monumental criminal trial.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US judge blocks Texas law cracking down on illegal border crossings

A federal judge in Texas on Thursday blocked the Republican-led state's new law giving officials broad powers to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin agreed with Democratic President Joe Biden's administration that the law known as SB4 interferes with the federal government's powers under the U.S. Constitution to enforce U.S. immigration laws and the ability of migrants to apply for asylum and other humanitarian aid.

Republican-controlled Alabama legislature passes bills to protect IVF

Alabama's Republican-led legislature on Thursday passed bills aimed at protecting the IVF industry after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children, prompting at least three Alabama providers to halt the fertility procedure. A bill passed the Senate 34-0, with one member abstaining, after the House measure passed 94-6.

Leading LGBTQ group sues Texas attorney general over demands for records

PFLAG, a leading U.S. LGBTQ advocacy group, has sued Texas' Republican attorney general for demanding information about the group's work with families of transgender minors seeking gender-affirming treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormones. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday evening in Travis County state court, PFLAG called Attorney General Ken Paxton's demands "a clear and unmistakable overreach...in retaliation for PFLAG successfully standing up for its members."

Pentagon leak defendant Jack Teixeira to plead guilty

Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is expected to plead guilty to charges related to his alleged leaking of classified military information on a social media platform in what was one of the most serious U.S. national security breaches in years, according to a court filing. Federal prosecutors asked a judge in Boston to schedule a Monday hearing for Teixeira, 22, to change his plea following his arrest in June on charges he leaked classified documents to a group of gamers on the messaging app Discord.

Some Democrats turn toward Trump in Texas border city hit by immigration

Asalia Casares, 52, is a lifelong Democrat who voted for U.S. President Joe Biden in 2020 just like many in Maverick County near the U.S.-Mexico border, a rare Democratic stronghold in the majority Republican state of Texas. But Casares said she is concerned about the high levels of illegal immigration straining her hometown of Eagle Pass, Texas, which sits alongside the Rio Grande and where she was born and raised. While she sympathizes with the migrants, she worries about the safety of residents and migrant families, citing the dangers of crossing the Rio Grande and pointing to an incident where three people were found hiding behind an elderly neighbor's house.

Missouri accuses Planned Parenthood of 'trafficking' minors to get abortions

Missouri's Republican attorney general on Thursday sued a Planned Parenthood affiliate, accusing it of helping minors travel to Kansas to get abortions without notifying their parents in violation of state law. The lawsuit by Attorney General Andrew Bailey cites undercover footage released by the conservative Project Veritas last year purporting to show a Planned Parenthood Great Plains employee offer to arrange an abortion for a 13-year-old in Kansas. Missouri law bans nearly all abortions, as well as helping a minor get an abortion out of state without parental consent.

Biden and Trump trade blame at US border in dueling election-year visits

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump used rival visits to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday to heap blame on each other over migrant crossings ahead of a November election where immigration has emerged as a top issue for voters.Biden, who has been on the defensive on the matter in recent months, was in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, where he criticized Republican lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan effort to toughen immigration policies after Trump told them not to pass it and give Biden a policy victory. "They desperately need more resources," Biden said after being briefed by border patrol agents and walking alongside the Rio Grande river that separates Brownsville and Mexico.

US Supreme Court's move to hear Trump's immunity claim gives him gift of delay

The U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to reject Donald Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss, according to legal experts, but its decision to spend months on the matter could aid his quest to regain the presidency by further delaying a monumental criminal trial. Trump's lawyers have argued that he should be shielded from prosecution for his effort to reverse President Joe Biden's election victory over him because he was president when he took those actions, a sweeping assertion of immunity firmly rejected by lower courts.

Trump says he can't get fair trial this year in classified documents case

Donald Trump's lawyers told a U.S. judge on Thursday that he believes he cannot get a fair trial this year on charges of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House, while he campaigns to try to recapture the presidency. "President Trump strongly asserts that a fair trial cannot be conducted this year in a manner consistent with the Constitution," the filing asserts on its first page. On its seventh page, Trump's lawyers go on to suggest an Aug. 12, 2024, start to the trial.

US Senate to vote on bill to avert government shutdown

The Democratic-majority U.S. Senate on Thursday aimed to pass a bill to avert a partial government shutdown, after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved it with less than 36 hours before funding begins to run out. In the House, 207 Democrats joined 113 Republicans in a 320-99 vote to approve the short-term stopgap measure, which buys Congress more time to agree on funding for the full fiscal year that began Oct. 1.