Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

House Democrats demand documents on Trump's DHS purge

The chairmen of three U.S. House committees sought documents on Thursday related to recent Trump administration firings of top Department of Homeland Security officials, escalating tensions between congressional Democrats and the White House over immigration policy. U.S. Representatives Elijah Cummings, Bennie Thompson and Jerrold Nadler, Democrats who head the House of Representatives Oversight, Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, said in a statement they were "concerned that the president may have removed DHS officials because they refused his demands to violate federal immigration law and judicial orders."

Sex website shuts down in U.S., blaming 'dumb' trafficking laws

A popular sex classified website said this week that it was shutting down its services in the United States, citing the likelihood that legal challenges would fail to overturn a landmark package of federal sex trafficking laws passed by Congress a year ago. The decision by MassageRepublic.com marks the latest indication that the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, known collectively as FOSTA-SESTA, has made it difficult for websites selling sex to survive in a climate of higher risk for them.

New Mexico armed border group barred from Facebook fund-raising

Facebook Inc on Thursday barred a New Mexico-based paramilitary group that has stopped undocumented migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border from using its fundraising tools and said it would remove any of its posts that violated company policies. Facebook made the statement after a civil rights organization asked it to block videos posted by the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), saying the clips violated its standards, which prohibit images showing criminal acts.

Massachusetts judge faces federal charges for blocking immigration arrest

U.S. federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a Massachusetts judge and court officer with conspiracy and obstruction, saying they blocked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer from arresting an illegal immigrant at a 2018 court proceeding. The move marks the latest skirmish over immigration between President Donald Trump's administration and local governments who have resisted his crackdown. The state's Democratic attorney general called the charges "politically motivated."

U.S. measles outbreak triggers quarantine at two Los Angeles universities

A nationwide measles outbreak has led health officials to quarantine dozens of people at two Los Angeles universities, officials said on Thursday. The quarantine affects the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) and comes as the United States battles the highest number of measles cases since the country declared the virus eliminated in 2000.

U.S. judge blocks Trump's cutoff of family planning subsidies: plaintiffs

A federal judge in Washington state on Thursday blocked a Trump administration cutoff of U.S. subsidies for poor women obtaining birth control from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that offer abortion services or information to patients, according to the state attorney general. The preliminary injunction bars enforcement nationwide of a policy due to go into effect on May 3 over the vehement objections of abortion supporters, who have decried it as a "gag rule" that would prevent doctors from doing their jobs.

Judge gives U.S. six months to identify separated migrant children

A U.S. judge said on Thursday he would order the Trump administration to comb through the records of 47,000 immigrant children and within six months identify those separated from their parents after crossing the Mexican border. While a government official said at Thursday's hearing he hoped to meet the deadline, the government said earlier this month it might take two years to identify the separated children.

Maryland judge to release Coast Guard officer accused of plotting attack: reports

A judge in Maryland has agreed to the pre-trial release of a U.S. Coast Guard officer accused of stockpiling weapons and plotting to attack Democratic politicians and TV journalists, according to media reports on Thursday. Evidence in the case did not show that Lieutenant Christopher Hasson, 50, was as dangerous as prosecutors claimed, said the federal judge at a hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, according to Baltimore television station WBAL and other media. Hasson was assigned to the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington.

Trump approved payment of $2 million North Korea bill for care of Warmbier: report

President Donald Trump approved payment of a $2 million bill presented by North Korea to cover its care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, a college student who died shortly after being returned home from 17 months in a North Korean prison, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post said an invoice was handed to State Department envoy Joseph Yun hours before Warmbier, 22, was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Warmbier died six days later.

Ex-Florida policeman gets 25 years in prison for killing black motorist

A former Florida police officer was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday for fatally shooting a black motorist who was awaiting a tow truck in October 2015. Nouman Raja, 41, was fired from the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department shortly after he killed Corey Jones, 31, while on plainclothes duty, and was convicted last month by a jury of manslaughter and first-degree murder.