Trump news: White House reveals new rules to keep impoverished immigrants out of US, as Epstein autopsy results expected amid deluge of conspiracy theories
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Donald Trump - currently on holiday at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey - has again stoked controversy by retweeting unfounded conspiracy theories about the apparent suicide of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a New York jail cell on Saturday.
Democratic 2020 contenders Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker have led the condemnation of the president, accusing him of seeking to divert attention from the bad press he suffered in the aftermath of the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings by giving oxygen to unfounded rumours linking Epstein, a former friend of Mr Trump himself, to his precursor in the White House, Bill Clinton.
The White House has meanwhile introduced tough new immigration measures that could deny visas and permanent residency to hundreds of thousands of people for being too poor.
The White House administration announced it was moving forward with one of its most aggressive steps yet to restrict legal immigration, denying green cards to many migrants who use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance.
Federal law already requires those seeking to become permanent residents and gain legal status to prove they will not be a burden to the US — a “public charge,” in government speak — but the new rules detail a broader range of programs that could disqualify them.
Trump protests: President visits Texas and Ohio after mass shootings
Show all 31It’s part of a dramatic overhaul of the nation’s immigration system that the administration has been trying to put into place.
While much of the attention has focused on Mr Trump’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, the new change targets people who entered the United States legally and are seeking permanent status.
It's also part of an effort to move the US to a system that focuses on immigrants’ skills instead of emphasizing the reunification of families.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services will now weigh public assistance along with other factors such as education, household income and health to determine whether to grant legal status.
The rules will take effect in mid-October. They don’t apply to US citizens, even if the US citizen is related to an immigrant who is subject to them.
The acting director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, said the rule change fits with the Republican president’s message.
“We want to see people coming to this country who are self-sufficient,” Mr Cuccinelli said. “That’s a core principle of the American dream. It’s deeply embedded in our history, and particularly our history related to legal immigration.”
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Corrections officers had not checked in on financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for "several" hours before he was found hanging in his cell Saturday, a person familiar with the matter said, just one in a series of missteps in the hours leading up to his death.
Officers should have been checking on Epstein, who was being held in a special housing unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, every 30 minutes, and, under normal circumstances, he also should have had a cellmate, according to the person familiar with the matter and union officials representing facility employees.
But a person who had been assigned to share a cell with Epstein was transferred on Friday, and - for reasons that investigators are still exploring - he did not receive a new one, the person familiar with the matter said Sunday night.
Beto O’Rourke has lashed out at Donald Trump for retweeting a conspiracy theory connecting Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide in prison, saying the president was distracting from “an epidemic of gun violence” occurring “every single day” under his watch.
The former Democratic congressman from Texas called out Mr Trump and “unfounded conspiracy theories” in an interview with CNN on Sunday after the president retweeted a post over the weekend that read: “[Jeffrey Epstein] had information on Bill Clinton & now he’s dead”.
Epstein, a disgraced billionaire and accused sex trafficker, was found dead in his prison cell early on Saturday morning while facing federal sex trafficking charges, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.
Here's more from me on the FBI and Justice Department investigations into Jeffrey Epstein's death:
Here's my story on what options Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims have now that the disgraced financier died from apparent suicide on Saturday -
Donald Trump's White House has promoted news of the president's plan to enforce guidelines preventing certain immigrants from accessing public benefit programmes -
The Trump administration has introduced broad changes to America’s signature environmental law, in a move critics say will drive more endangered animals and plants to extinction.
Interior secretary David Bernhardt unveiled a series of changes on Monday, one of which will end blanket protections for animals newly deemed threatened by extinction.
Another change will allow government agencies for the first time to consider the financial cost of protecting certain species.
Here's more on "the trail of ruined lives, misery and bankruptcy arch-swindler and paedophile left" in Jeffrey Epstein's wake.
Donald Trump is once again hitting out against his former aide Anthony Scaramucci -
This concludes today's live coverage surrounding Donald Trump's White House. Be sure to check back tomorrow as The Independent brings you the latest.
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