Vox Sentences: Algeria has stranded 13,000 migrants in the Sahara

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Trump’s travel ban survives; Algeria has expelled more than 13,000 migrants in the desert.

The Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban

Robert Alexander/Getty Images

• The Supreme Court ruled to uphold President Donald Trump’s third version of the travel ban this morning in a 5-4 vote. [Vox / Jennie Neufeld]
• The ban limits citizens of eight nations from entering the US. Other than North Korea and Venezuela, these nations have predominantly Muslim populations. [The Hill / Lydia Wheeler]
• Chief Justice John Roberts, in the ruling opinion, said it was within Trump’s executive purview to ban certain “classes” of people if their entry would be “detrimental” to the US. He also said the travel ban was not a Muslim ban. [Vox / Dara Lind]
• The four liberal justices wrote and endorsed one another’s dissenting opinions. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the ban is a form of “animosity” toward Muslims hidden under the veil of “national-security concerns.” [SCOTUSblog / Amy Howe]
• Trump celebrated the decision as “a tremendous victory … for the Constitution.” Analysts believe it’s more of a victory for Republicans than legal reasoning or justice. [The Nation / Sean McElwee]
• Steve Bannon also put in his two cents. He told Axios that the decision will be a major boost to Trump’s ego and remind him that he’s “right and the haters are wrong.” [Twitter / Jonathan Swan]
• The Supreme Court win could encourage Trump to further broaden the scope and terms of the ban. [The Daily Beast / Dean Obeidallah]
• The ruling and current Supreme Court justice lineup are reminders that midterm elections shape the future of this country just as much as presidential elections. [Vox / Ezra Klein]

Algeria is expelling 13,000 migrants to a deathly Saharan trek

• Algeria has expelled more than 13,000 migrants, including pregnant women and children, over a 14-month period to travel across the Sahara desert in the hopes of reaching Niger. They are often sent in 118 degree Fahrenheit weather without money, food, or water. [Al Jazeera / Victoria Gatenby]
• Algerian authorities are allegedly dropping migrants off at the border of the desert and instructing them to walk for miles, often at gunpoint, to the nearest town in Niger with a water source. Algeria denies these claims. [NPR / Camila Domonoske]
• Migrants who survived the dangerous trek said they were forced to leave the dead behind and let the exhausted perish. Various migrants repeatedly used the word “suffering” to describe the difficulties of the trek. [AP / Lori Hinnant]
• The International Organization for Migration found that migrants in the Sahara are vanishing at double the rate of those traveling across the Mediterranean. [The Independent]
• There were 258 million migrants in 2017, up 14 million from 2015. Countries like Algeria and Italy who continue to expel migrants will likely exacerbate the migrant crisis. [Vox / Madeleine Ngo]

Miscellaneous

• Marvel superhero actress Evangeline Lilly confessed that many of the male actors in the MCU consistently complain about their superhero suits. Either men have never been subjected to uncomfortable outfits — “for the sake of looking good” — or they’re big babies … it could quite possibly be both. [Racked / Rebecca Jennings]
• Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas, threw some major shade at Queen Elizabeth while talking to his favorite outlet, TMZ. Mr. Markle argues that if the queen is willing to meet Trump, there’s no good reason as to why she can’t meet him. We can think up a few. [The Cut / Lisa Ryan]
• The New York Times wants you to spend $300 on a woke T-shirt based on their famous 2017 ad in the fight to end “fake news.” Given that they have to beg readers to subscribe with lower prices by the day, it’s unclear if many will take the bait. [VICE / Eve Peyser]

Verbatim

“To avoid digital interaction these days is to not participate in life. If you are going to position yourself as a public intellectual, if you’re going to write novels about our modern condition, don’t you have to participate in it? Can you write clearly about something that you don’t…swim in?” [Taffy Brodesser-Akner questioning Jonathan Franzen’s social media abstinence / NYT Magazine]

Watch this: Can Trump really pardon himself?

Can Trump really pardon himself? We asked legal experts about the limits of a president’s pardoning power. [YouTube / Danush Parvaneh]

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