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Government Shuts Down Partially as Winter Storm and Immigration Protests Sweep the Nation
Washington D.C. - The federal government entered a partial shutdown just after midnight on Friday, while a major winter storm threatened the southern United States and protests erupted across the country against the Trump Administration's immigration policies. Lawmakers from both parties anticipated the shutdown would be brief, lasting only through the weekend, according to Time.
The shutdown occurred despite the Senate's attempt to pass a bipartisan spending package that would fund most of the government through the end of the fiscal year and allow two more weeks to negotiate limits on the Administration's immigration enforcement tactics, Time reported. With the House out of session until Monday, there was no way to send the bill to President Trump before the deadline. The pressure now shifts to the House, where lawmakers will decide whether to swiftly ratify the Senate plan or reopen a deeper fight.
Meanwhile, a winter storm was traveling across the southern United States, threatening to drop snow on parts of Florida's Gulf Coast for the first time in a decade, Time reported. Forecasters warned it could develop into a "bomb cyclone," a weather event in which atmospheric pressure drops sharply over a short period. By Friday, the storm had already begun to drop snow on parts of eastern Tennessee, the Carolinas, and southern Virginia. About 240 million people were under cold weather advisories Saturday, and nearly 200,000 customers were without power, some from last week's storm, most in Tennessee and Mississippi, according to Time. Tampa could see snow flurries for the first time since 2010.
Adding to the unrest, protests against the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown took place in cities across the U.S. on Friday, Time reported. The mass demonstration of public outrage followed the killings of two people by federal agents amid an aggressive enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Organizers called for a national shutdown day of no school, work, or shopping, and dozens of businesses closed their doors. Tens of thousands of demonstrators were expected to take to the streets from Los Angeles to New York. Minnesotans held a similar state-wide general strike last week to demand an end to what Minneapolis leaders have described as an invasion of federal immigration enforcement officers in the Administration's Operation Metro Surge campaign, according to Time. "The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the world," Time reported.
In other news, Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt saw increased activity on Sunday as Israel announced that limited travel to and from the territory was set to resume after years of near-complete isolation, according to NPR News. Reopening the border crossing is a key step as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead. Israel announced Sunday that the crossing has opened in a test.
These events unfolded against a backdrop of concerns about the future of human rights, with Time reporting that the rules-based order that helped make human rights enforceable is fraying under pressure from the Trump administration, as well as China and Russia.
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