Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. will assign dozens of border agents to migrant asylum interviews

Up to 60 U.S Border Patrol agents will be trained to conduct initial asylum screenings as part of a pilot effort to speed up the vetting of migrants who seek refuge in the United States, U.S. officials told a congressional committee on Thursday. Ten border agents are currently undergoing the training to conduct "credible fear" screenings of asylum seekers, and two other groups of 20 to 25 agents each have been designated to receive the training, said Robert Perez, deputy commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in testimony to members of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

Chinese-American pride celebrated in 150th anniversary of Transcontinental Railroad

Connie Young Yu says that when her parents joined a delegation of fellow Chinese-Americans attending a 1969 event commemorating the centennial of the first U.S. Transcontinental Railroad, they were snubbed, upstaged by Hollywood star John Wayne. Now 50 years later, she and others descended from Chinese immigrants who built much of the cross-country rail line are looking forward to the 150th "Golden Spike" anniversary in Utah for rightful recognition they say is long overdue.

Nickel-and-dime debts prompt food fight over Rhode Island school lunches

A move by a Rhode Island school district to collect overdue lunch money that often amounted to nickels and dimes erupted into a food fight with irate parents this week, and had administrators walking back their get-tough policy. It began last Sunday when Warwick Public Schools announced that starting on May 13, students who owe money on their lunch accounts would be served sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches until they paid up.

Trump says subpoena of his son came as a surprise

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said the Senate Intelligence Committee's subpoena of his son Donald Trump Jr. came as a surprise, one day after media outlets reported that the Republican-led panel had called on his son to again answer questions. "I'm pretty surprised," Trump said at an event at the White House, calling his son "a good person."

Fake heiress who dazzled New York elite gets 4 to 12 years for fraud

A German woman who posed as a wealthy heiress to scam New York hotels, fashionable friends and banks with a blizzard of forged documents was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison on Thursday after a jury convicted her of fraud last month. Anna Sorokin, 28, was better known to her Manhattan friends as Anna Delvey, a would-be socialite decked out in expensive clothes whose credit cards came back declined with unnerving frequency despite her talk of having a trust fund.

Democrat Beto O'Rourke hires Obama adviser for 2020 U.S. presidential bid

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke has hired Jeff Berman, one of the architects of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential victory, as a senior adviser, the campaign said on Thursday. Berman is an expert in the complex system of how the Democratic Party awards delegates during its presidential nominating contest. His hiring as senior advisor for delegate strategy indicates O'Rourke is digging in for a long delegate battle in a huge Democratic field with 22 candidates so far.

Accused California synagogue shooter charged with federal hate crimes

A California nursing student accused of a deadly shooting spree in a San Diego-area synagogue and arson at a nearby mosque was charged on Thursday with 109 counts of federal hate crimes and civil rights violations, prosecutors said. John Earnest, 19, was already charged in state court with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder in the April 27 attack at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, which left one worshipper dead and three others wounded, including a rabbi.

House Democrat weighs subpoena or court case for Trump's taxes

U.S. House tax committee Chairman Richard Neal said on Thursday that he will decide by the end of the week whether to subpoena President Donald Trump's tax returns or go to court to obtain the documents, which the administration refuses to hand over. As part of an escalating clash between Democrats and the Trump administration, Neal said he talked with lawyers for the House of Representatives on Thursday about next steps and would have a final discussion with them later in the day.

Americans' support for impeaching Trump rises: Reuters/Ipsos poll

The number of Americans who said President Donald Trump should be impeached rose 5 percentage points to 45 percent since mid-April, while more than half said multiple congressional probes of Trump interfered with important government business, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday. The opinion poll, conducted on Monday, did not make clear whether investigation-fatigued Americans wanted House of Representatives Democrats to pull back on their probes or press forward aggressively and just get impeachment over with.

Alabama Senate delays vote on strict anti-abortion bill

Alabama's state Senate on Thursday delayed until next week a vote on the strictest abortion bill in the United States after disagreement arose on the Senate floor about whether to allow women impregnated by rape and incest to have a legal abortion. The Alabama debate follows passage of anti-abortion laws in states that border it to the east and west, Georgia and Mississippi, creating what abortion rights advocates have warned would be a massive "abortion desert."