Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Shift is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Employment & Immigration subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.
President Donald Trump repeated over the weekend his threat to declare a national emergency so he can build a border wall. Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown heads into its third week — with more the 450,000 federal workers on the job without pay.
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—DOL will relaunch a visa application website today after it crashed last week.
—Roughly 33,000 teachers in Los Angeles will strike Thursday if the union can't reach a deal with the school district.
—A trial in San Francisco over the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census starts today.
GOOD MORNING! It's Monday Jan. 7, and this is Morning Shift, your daily tipsheet on labor and immigration news. Send tips, exclusives, and suggestions to rrainey@politico.com, thesson@politico.com, ikullgren@politico.com and tnoah@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @RebeccaARainey, @tedhesson, @IanKullgren and @TimothyNoah1.
Shutdown DownloadTRUMP EYES EMERGENCY POWERS: President Trump on Sunday reiterated his threat to declare a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, POLITICO's Marianne LeVine and Quint Forgey report. Several Democrats and liberal advocates pointed out that such a move would likely draw legal challenges.
House Democrats released four bills Sunday to reopen closed agencies. The measures don't fund a border wall, which means they likely won't go anywhere in the Senate. The White House, meanwhile, formally asked Congress for $5.7 billion for "steel barrier" — confirming that Trump has given up on building a concrete wall.
What about DACA? Trump repeated Sunday that he's disinclined to address DACA until after the Supreme Court rules on its legality. "I think we'd complicate it," Trump said, according to a White House transcript. "I'd rather have the Supreme Court rule and then work with the Democrats on DACA."
Related reads:
"How the Border Wall Is Boxing Trump In," from Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Peter Baker in the New York Times. Find it here.
"What the President Could Do If He Declares A State of Emergency," by Elizabeth Goitein in the Atlantic. Read it here.
Visa UpdateVISA WEBSITE GETS A REBOOT: The Labor Department will today put back online a visa application website for employers seeking temporary foreign workers, POLITICO's Ted Hesson reports. The website crashed Jan. 1 after employers submitted requests for approximately 98,000 workers through the H-2B visa program.
The website returns at 2 p.m., but DOL officials last week asked employers seeking visas for any program other than H-2B not to use the portal until at least one hour after the restart. A DOL spokeswoman later told POLITICO the request was "to ensure the best experience" for users. Find more info from DOL here.
UNIONSL.A. TEACHERS READY TO STRIKE: Roughly 33,000 teachers in Los Angeles will go on strike Thursday if their union doesn't reach a deal with the school district, Nour Malas and Tawnell Hobbs report in the Wall Street Journal. The teachers want better pay and to limit the growth of charter schools, according to the Journal.
A strike appears more likely after a federal judge on Friday rejected the school district's attempt to block the work stoppage. The district argued the labor action would keep special needs students from receiving legally mandated educational services, but the judge said the issues were unrelated.
Key context: "There were more strikes by educators in 2018 than at any time in the past 25 years," the Journal reports. "Teachers in North Carolina, Arizona and West Virginia won average pay increases between 5 percent to 20 percent after walkouts that closed schools."
CITIZENSHIP QUESTION GOES TO COURT: A federal trial begins in San Francisco today over the Trump administration's decision to inquire about citizenship status on the 2020 Census. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, an Obama appointee, will consider a pair of cases brought by the state of California and the city of San Jose, among others. The plaintiffs argue that the question violates the Constitution and federal regulatory law.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 19 related to a separate lawsuit led by the state of New York. Specifically, the justices will consider whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and other officials can be deposed to explain the origin of the question.
MARYLAND WEIGHS MINIMUM WAGE HIKE: Democrats in the Maryland General Assembly will push a $15 minimum wage in a 90-day state legislative sessions that begins Wednesday, Ovetta Wiggins and Arelis Hernández write in the Washington Post. The push to raise the minimum wage — currently $10.10 — could face resistance for Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, the Post reports.
DIGGING INTO MIGRANT DEATHS: A Democratic congressional delegation to examine a migrant child's death in custody will share its findings today. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) will join several other House members and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) at a 2:30 p.m. EST press briefing after a tour of the New Mexico CBP facility where an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died on Christmas Eve. Watch a livestream here.
NIELSEN SOUGHT FOR HOMELAND HEARING: Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called Friday on DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to testify at the committee's first hearing under Democratic leadership. In a letter to Nielsen, Thompson said Trump's "boondoggle border wall" aims to distract the public from a flawed border security policy that led to child deaths in custody. Read the letter here.
Along those lines, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) demanded in a letter today that DHS and CBP official perform a full evaluation of standards and protocol to ensure the safety of detained children. Read it here.
Related read: "House Democrats prepare fusillade of Trump investigations," by POLITICO's Adam Cancryn. Find it on POLITICO Pro here.
INSIDE TRUMP'S APPROACH TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION: Chris Meekins, the Trump appointee who helped oversee family reunifications before leaving HHS last week, described the process to put thousands of migrant families back together and defended the administration's work. Hear his side of the story on POLITICO's Pulse Check podcast with Dan Diamond here.
TRADE CORNERTHE COST OF TRUMP'S TARIFFS: President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs have forced some U.S. businesses to consider moving overseas, Peter Goodman reports in the New York Times. "Companies that import electronics and other parts are scrambling to remain profitable while exploring alternatives, such as moving plants beyond reach of the duties," he writes. One Michigan electronics business expects the tariffs will halve profits in 2019.
TRUMP ON SKILLED WORKERS: President Trump said Friday he wants tech companies to be able to retain talented foreign workers, Alex Leary reports in the Wall Street Journal. But Trump's comments (which included little detail) belie his own administration's crackdown on legal immigration. The number of temporary visas issued under Trump has dropped compared with Obama levels, and employers argue they face increased uncertainty when it comes to keeping or recruiting foreign workers.
UAW LAWSUIT OVER TEMPORARY WORKERS: UAW filed a lawsuit last week against General Motors over the use of temporary employees at a Fort Wayne assembly plant, Jamie LaReau reports in the Detroit Free Press.
"The contract requires GM to transfer union members with seniority to open jobs at other plants," LaReau writes. "But, the suit alleges, GM is circumventing the agreement by using temporary employees at its factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, instead of seniority union members."
The automaker intends to close five plants in North America and cut 6,000 jobs — which means more legal battles could be on the way, LaReau reports. Read the complaint here.
COFFEE BREAK:
— "While federal workers go without pay, senior Trump administration officials are poised to get $10,000 raises," from the Washington Post
—"Government shutdown closes immigration courts, adding to huge backlogs," from the Arizona Republic
—"Inquiry Into Migrant Shelters Poses Dilemma: What Happens to the Children?" from the New York Times
—"22 immigrants died in ICE detention centers during the past 2 years," from NBC News
THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT!
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