Texas Troopers Told To Push Back Migrants Into Rio Grande River, Report Says

CNN’s Rachel Clarke, Ashley Killough, Sarah Moon and Priscilla Alvarez describe a new report published by the Houston Chronicle detailing tactics used by Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star.” An unnamed state trooper said via email: “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane,” and that they were given orders to push the people back into the water and told not to give migrants water even when they appeared to be suffering heat exhaustion. PRRI finds that a majority of Americans who most trust conservative media outlets (70%) and Fox News (56%) believe that “immigrants are invading our country,” compared with 21% who most trust mainstream television.

Iowa Judge Temporarily Suspends New Abortion Ban

Colbi Edmonds of The New York Times reports that Iowa district judge Joseph Seidlin has put the state’s recently-passed six week abortion ban on hold pending further litigation. While a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and other abortion providers moves forward to the state Supreme Court, the ban will remain suspended, making abortion up to 22 weeks legal in the state. PRRI finds that just under two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe that abortion should be legal in most or all cases – in Iowa, this percentage is 61%.

Trump Legal Woes Heat Up With Prospect of January 6 Indictment

Erin Doherty for Axios writes that former President Donald Trump recently announced that he is a target of the grand jury probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In addition to this investigation, Trump has been charged with 37 felonies in the classified documents case as well as 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan criminal court; he also faces a separate inquiry related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. New PRRI data finds that while former President Donald Trump continues to maintain his majority approval ratings among Republican base groups, among Americans overall, two-thirds (66%) express unfavorable views.

Rev. Jesse Jackson Succeeded by Dallas Pastor as Head of Rainbow PUSH Coalition

Chicago Sun Times’ Kaitlin Washburn reports that longtime student Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III of Rev. Jesse Jackson has succeeded him as the leader of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Haynes is the Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, and has a history of faith-based social justiceactivism, including creating the THR!VE Intern and Leadership Program and co-founding the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. PRRI recently found that Black Protestants are the only Christian group in which a majority (63%) believe that religious congregations should get involved in social issues even if doing so means having difficult conversations about politics.

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Read PRRI’s spotlight “Trump Remains Popular Among Republican Groups, While Assessments of DeSantis Slip” here.