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In one unanimous show of hands, Democratic presidential candidates moved to the mainstream the idea of full health insurance for people who don't have legal permission to be in the United States. But turning that debate-night moment into reality would mean reversing longstanding federal policies that have only gotten stricter. The idea is so new that independent experts say they don't have a reliable cost estimate. Politically, it wouldn't happen without a pitched battle. (7/3)

Democrats running for president handed Donald Trump a potent attack line last week when they promised that their government health insurance plans would cover undocumented immigrants. It merged two of President Trump’s favorite campaign issues — health care and immigration — and could help him in battleground states where white, middle-class voters are worried about both. (Hellmann, 7/2)

The intensity of President Donald Trump's hardline approach to immigration hasn't just pushed the Republican Party rightward — it's also moving Democrats in ways that are profoundly transforming the immigration debate. Gone are hopes for a big, bipartisan immigration overhaul once envisioned in Congress. With dire conditions taking hold at the border, and deportations stoking fear in immigrant communities, groups on the left are no longer willing to engage in the trade-offs that had long been cornerstones to any deal. (7/2)

Homeland Security officials thought they finally were getting a handle on the crisis at the Mexican border, after warning for months that agents and holding cells were beyond “the breaking point.” The record surge of Central American families has started to abate. The Mexican government has launched a broad crackdown after a deal with President Trump. And in a rare example of bipartisan action, lawmakers last week approved $4.6 billion in supplemental funding, most of it to improve care for minors who arrive without parents. (Miroff, Linskey and Dawsey, 7/2)

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey on Tuesday announced a plan to drastically alter the nation’s immigration detention system through an executive order on his first day in office if he is elected president. In an effort to draw stark contrast to the immigration detention policies of the Trump administration, Mr. Booker’s platform simultaneously establishes a new, stronger set of civil detention standards for facilities operated by the Department of Homeland Security, and directs the department to phase out any contracts with private prison facilities and county or local prisons over three years. (Corasaniti, 7/2)