Border Czar Points to ‘Draw Down Plan’ for Immigration Officials in Minneapolis

4.638 - 19.377 Pierre Bien-Aimé

Here's your midday brief for Thursday, January 29th. I'm Pierre Bien-Aimé for The Wall Street Journal. The White House border czar dispatched to reset the Trump administration's mission in Minneapolis says he's working on a plan to reduce the immigration enforcement presence there.

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Tom Homan said today that the federal government could do more to make the operation, quote, safer, more efficient, by the book. He says federal immigration officials will go back to conducting targeted operations that make people with criminal records a priority. The operation has been broader, with patrols sweeping streets looking for people to arrest.

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The chemicals company Dow is cutting 4,500 employees with the aim of cutting costs and relying more on artificial intelligence and automation. Dow currently employs more than 34,000 people. The cuts will result in $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion in one-time charges. Dow also said today that its quarterly loss widened because of lower revenue and higher costs.

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And federal prosecutors have indicted First Brands founder Patrick James and his brother Edward, a former First Brands executive, on charges of defrauding lenders. The auto parts company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year in an implosion that rattled credit markets. A representative for Patrick James said he denied the charges, while lawyers for Edward James had no immediate comment.

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Heads Up, an artificial intelligence tool, helped us make this episode by creating summaries that were based on WSJ reporting and then reviewed and adapted by an editor. We'll have more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.