🗞️ ICE arrests, AI in schools, surrogacy skeptics and more

Good afternoon, folks. As summer winds down and students head back to school, educators are grappling with which artificial intelligence tools to buy for use in the classroom. 

Meanwhile, school districts and local officials are working to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at bay. Stateline reporters Robbie Sequeira and Shalina Chatlani have more below the fold. 

And don't miss our stories about record ICE arrests in July, skepticism of surrogacy and in vitro fertilization from conservatives and preparation for federal interference at the polls ahead of the midterm elections. 

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Federal immigration agents are employing new tactics — from arresting academics at airports to setting up a checkpoint at a popular creek in a national forest — to boost their arrest numbers, leading to more arrests in July than in any previous month of the Trump administration. Though it is striving to fulfill the White House’s demand for more arrests, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still falling short of the Trump administration’s announced goal of 2,000 arrests per day. 

Since President Donald Trump began his second term with a vow to crack down on illegal immigration, more than a dozen states have enacted laws designed to keep ICE away from schools. But recent incidents illustrate the limits of state and local authority when it comes to immigration enforcement. The day after its inauguration, the Trump administration announced that it would reverse guidance in place since 2011 that restricted migrant arrests at “sensitive locations,” including schools, hospitals and places of worship. Since then, there have been at least 17 ICE encounters on school grounds.

As a new school year begins, some classrooms may use artificial intelligence tools to flag a student struggling with classwork, track attendance or try to raise reading scores. But as school districts make decisions on which tools are safe and worth spending thousands or millions of dollars on, some officials feel overwhelmed by the array of choices. Some states and districts have begun offering guidance for vetting AI purchases, but educators and experts say districts are still carrying much of the burden on their own.

In the past two years, Republicans in five states have added language critcal of in vitro fertilization to their state party platforms, and some anti-abortion groups have become increasingly outspoken in their opposition to both IVF and surrogacy. One reason is that many same-sex couples use both methods to have children, and many conservatives believe children should be raised by heterosexual married couples. Conservative critics also connect surrogacy to immigration, saying it facilitates “birth tourism” and birthright citizenship. And they note that IVF can involve the discarding of some embryos, which they say is akin to abortion.

State Democratic officials are preparing for chaos at the polls this November, as President Donald Trump casts doubt on election security and pushes for more federal involvement in local voting. At stake is not only whether Republicans will maintain their grip on Congress, but also the control of state legislatures across the country. State lawmakers have introduced new legislation with the aim of protecting polling places. And behind closed doors, Democratic attorneys general and local election officials have sought to anticipate and prepare for ways the federal government could interject itself into local elections.

A new federal rule will end Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming hormone therapies and procedures for kids under age 18.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a rule that prohibits state Medicaid plans from covering gender-affirming procedures for minors and using federal Medicaid dollars for such care. 

The rule also prohibits Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, funds from being used for kids under 19. CMS is defining such care to include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical operations. The policy takes effect Oct. 13.

The Trump administration asserts that gender-affirming care is dangerous for kids, while many medical groups say it’s safe and can improve the mental health of children and adolescents. Surgical gender-affirming care operations are very rare for children.