ACTUAL PROGRESS – AT 10:14 A.M. ET:  And how rare in Washington.   The Trump effect is changing our southern border.  From Fox: 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Thursday that illegal border crossings "are down 60 percent due to President Trump’s strong leadership."

Sessions gave a wide-ranging interview and said that the administration would look at other possible actions against so-called "sanctuary cities" after he announced this week that federal funds would be cut off to locales that refuse to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after detaining illegal immigrants.

COMMENT:  Great on both counts, and Sessions is turning into a fine, active attorney general.  Sadly, most news organizations have given up on basic journalism, so stories like this don't get reported.  But the reduction in illegal border crossings is major news.

On sanctuary cities, they're an absolute affront to the rule of law.  The only reason they exist is that Democratic politicians must play to their base, which doesn't care much about the idea of a nation of laws.  The threat by the Trump administration to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities is appropriate.  A federal grant is not a right, it is a gift given by Congress on behalf of the American people.  We have no obligation to continue those gifts to cities that defy federal law.

March 31, 2017