| THE BIG STORY
The Trump administration’s numbers on immigrant family separations can’t be confirmed, Inspector General says
A government watchdog says the Department of Homeland Security officials lacked the technology to track all the immigrant families who were separated at the southern border, so it can’t confirm if there were more than reported and if they have been reunified.
According to an unpublished report from the agency’s Office of Inspector General that we obtained, DHS failed to address the reporting deficiencies despite knowing about them months in advance.
The inspector general reported that while DHS said 3,014 families had been separated during the enforcement of the zero-tolerance policy, which lasted from May into late June in 2018.
As a result, the inspector general said, “without a reliable account of all family relationships, we cannot confirm that DHS has identified all family separations, and therefore, we cannot determine whether DHS and [Health and Human Services] have reunified these families.”
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS A round up of politics stories worth your time
This week, Washington is powering down for Thanksgiving break. All the action will resume next week. In the meantime, these pieces are worth your time: An unlikely friendship: Rep. Mark Meadows led the House’s most conservative caucus. Now he’s sharing tips with the head of the most progressive caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Read Addy Baird on this unlikely pairing and what brings them together. A major influence: Anthony Weiner changed the course of American history when he tweeted out a picture of his dick on May 27, 2011. Read Matt Berman on why Weiner’s penis tweet was the Big Bang of this odd political era. Gathering momentum: A group of Democrats who flipped Republican seats last year are backing a New York veteran to take a longtime Republican seat, as rumors swirl about a possible Lara Trump run. SNAPSHOTS Indigenous people are worried a new bill goes too easy on non-Native Americans accused of crimes on tribal. Amid an ongoing epidemic of violence against indigenous women, advocates said a new bill will hinder Native domestic violence and sexual assault survivors’ efforts to get justice.
Melania Trump was booed by middle and high school students at a “Be Best” event. The first lady was addressing students at a youth opioid awareness event in Baltimore when she was met with loud boos from the audience.
A teen was not banned for her TikTok about China’s concentration camps but for making a dark thirst joke about Osama Bin Laden. Feroza Aziz, a 17-year-old Muslim girl from New Jersey, went viral for a TikTok that started as a makeup tutorial and bait-and-switched to a quick lesson on China's Muslim concentration camps. TikTok says she wasn’t banned for that, but for a different TikTok about Osama Bin Laden.
Selena Gomez reportedly had a panic attack moments before her American Music Awards performance. After her recent performance was slated by critics and trolls alike, reports have surfaced claiming that Selena Gomez had a panic attack just moments before she took to the AMAs stage.
A NEW STANDARD OF STUDENT ACTIVISM Before Syracuse, there was Mizzou
Four years ago, after a series of racist incidents on the University of Missouri’s campus, a group of students interrupted the homecoming parade, and blocked then–university president Tim Wolfe’s car. They demanded Wolfe do something.
That initial demonstration grew to an on-campus movement that led to a series of extraordinary student-led actions. The story made national news when, astonishingly, black members of the school’s Division 1 football team decided not to participate in any football-related activities until the president stepped down or was fired.
Two days after the team stopped playing, Wolfe stepped down. It was an unprecedented feat of student activism.
Fast forward to four years later, and what happens to a force of a student movement after most of its leaders have graduated? Tomi Obaro checked in on Mizzou to see what’s changed.
Michael B. Thomas / Getty Images SEEING THE PROBLEM There is a new way to see climate change
As we start to see the effects of climate change more acutely — the past five years have been the warmest on record, and storms are becoming stronger — many media outlets have been revising their language regarding climate stories, with some going so far as to cover climate change as an emergency.
One group of journalists who have a unique job is photo editors, because they shape how the public see the climate change story unfolding.
We spoke with two journalists from Reuters about the challenges and successes of visually covering a global crisis.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters I hope you find your resilience today, one breath at a time, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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