It’s Thursday, October 2. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Jane Goodall’s protégé remembers the “rock star” scientist. Everything you need to know about the government shutdown. Amit Segal on whether Hamas will accept a deal. The Mormons fundraising for the family of the man who shot up and burned their church. What can we learn from the most normal town in America? And more.
But first: A routine green card appointment that turned out to be something very different.
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration. He said he would stop the influx of migrants at the border, tackle the overwhelming backlog of cases clogging immigration courts, and pursue and deport illegal immigrants.
By many measurements, the president has delivered. Illegal crossings on the southern border are at an all-time low, the backlog has shrunk by nearly 450,000 cases, and the Department of Homeland Security announced last week that over 400,000 illegal immigrants have been deported, while 1.6 million have left the United States on their own.
But what the Trump administration has done to achieve these numbers has shocked many Americans. Videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents swarming businesses, arresting immigrants en masse, and even tracking them down on the streets or in grocery stores are now a familiar sight.
My piece today tells the story of a woman who was caught up in these seismic and chaotic shifts in immigration policy.
Barbara Gomes-Marques May was born in Brazil, came to the U.S. seven years ago, and married an American man in April. About two weeks ago, she and her husband went to what they thought was a routine meeting about her application for a green card. But it was nothing of the sort.
—Frannie Block
The Government Just Shut Down. Now What? |
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At 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the United States government shut down. Around 750,000 federal workers have been sent home, and many others remain at their desks, unpaid until lawmakers can compromise. It’s been six years since the last government shutdown, so Washington watcher Gabe Fleisher offers a quick refresher on how they work—and what might happen next. | | |
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‘The Shooter’s Wife Is Our Neighbor’ |
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On Sunday morning, 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford allegedly drove his pickup truck into a meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and opened fire, killing four people inside the church, and injuring ten more. The attack shook the congregation to its core—and then something extraordinary happened. Jillian Lederman reports on the Mormons raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to support not just the victims, but the family of the shooter. | | |
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Remembering Jane Goodall |
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Yesterday, the world learned that legendary primatologist Jane Goodall passed away at the age of 91. Goodall will be remembered for many things—her groundbreaking research, her advocacy for nature conservation, the example she set for women in science around the world. To assess her legacy, and what we have lost, Evan Gardner spoke to her protégé, Professor Richard W. Wrangham. | | |
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Will Hamas Accept the Deal? Even Bibi Doesn’t Know. |
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On Monday, President Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a peace plan to end the war in Gaza. Trump gave Hamas an ultimatum: Go along with it or “pay in hell.” Will the terror group finally accept a deal? That’s the question Israeli journalist Amit Segal examines in his latest. | | |
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The Most Ordinary Town in America |
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You’ve probably never heard of Michigan City, Indiana. That’s because, as our favorite walker-writer Chris Arnade explains, it’s “the most ordinary town in America.” And when it feels like the world is on fire, he thinks there’s plenty to learn from this little manufacturing town in the Midwest. | | |
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