Lawmakers see boost for immigration deal after Trump remarks

WASHINGTON — Backed by the White House, Democratic and Republican lawmakers dug into a politically fraught search for compromise on immigration Wednesday, seeking to take advantage of a window of opportunity opened by President Donald Trump. They’re under pressure to find a breakthrough before a deadline next week that could lead to a government shutdown neither side wants.

Democrats want urgent action to stave off deportation of some 800,000 immigrants currently protected by an Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Trump still wants his border wall, though he’s toned down what that means. Conservatives are watching with a wary eye, fearing he will strike a soft compromise that could infuriate their — and his — political base heading into this year’s elections.

The No. 2 lawmakers of each of Capitol Hill’s quadrants of power — Republicans and Democrats in both House and Senate — touched gloves Wednesday afternoon, deputized for action at what appears to be a moment of genuine opportunity to break Washington gridlock.

“Everybody wants to find a deal there, myself included,” said Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, chairman of the stoutly conservative House Freedom Caucus. “It better be good, because that particular issue is really one of the issues that got this president elected. He can’t afford to make a mistake.”

The Democrats talk most about DACA, the program protecting immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are now here illegally. Many have only known America as their home and are viewed sympathetically in opinion polls and among most lawmakers.

17 dead in California mudslides, more than a dozen missing

MONTECITO, Calif. — Anxious family members awaited word on loved ones Wednesday as rescue crews searched grimy debris and ruins for more than a dozen people missing after mudslides in Southern California destroyed an estimated 100 houses, swept cars to the beach and left at least 17 victims dead.

“It’s just waiting and not knowing, and the more I haven’t heard from them — we have to find them,” said Kelly Weimer, whose elderly parents’ home was wrecked by the torrent of mud, trees and boulders that flowed down a fire-scarred mountain and slammed into the coastal town of Montecito in Santa Barbara County early Tuesday.

The drenching storm that triggered the disaster gave way to sunny skies, as hundreds of searchers carefully combed a messy landscape strewn with hazards.

“We’ve gotten multiple reports of rescuers falling through manholes that were covered with mud, swimming pools that were covered up with mud,” said Anthony Buzzerio, a Los Angeles County fire battalion chief. “The mud is acting like a candy shell on ice cream. It’s crusty on top but soft underneath, so we’re having to be very careful.”

From wire sources

Buzzerio led a team of 14 firefighters and six dogs in deep debris. They used long-handled tools to search the muck in the painstaking task.

Immigration agents descend on 7-Eleven stores in 17 states

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seven immigration agents filed into a 7-Eleven store before dawn Wednesday, waited for people to go through the checkout line and told arriving customers and a driver delivering beer to wait outside. A federal inspection was underway, they said.

Within 20 minutes, they verified that the cashier had a valid green card and served notice on the owner to produce hiring records in three days that deal with employees’ immigration status.

The well-rehearsed scene, executed with quiet efficiency in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, played out at about 100 7-Eleven stores in 17 states and the District of Columbia, a rolling operation that officials called the largest immigration action against an employer under Donald Trump’s presidency.

The employment audits and interviews with store workers could lead to criminal charges or fines. And they appeared to open a new front in Trump’s expansion of immigration enforcement, which has already brought a 40 percent increase in deportation arrests and pledges to spend billions of dollars on a border wall with Mexico.

A top official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the audits were “the first of many” and “a harbinger of what’s to come” for employers.

Joe Arpaio points to political traits he shares with Trump

PHOENIX (AP) — People have been comparing the political styles of President Donald Trump and former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio since the allies starting appearing together at campaign events.

The 85-year-old Arpaio noted those similarities Wednesday, a day after he announced his candidacy for the Senate seat now held by Republican Jeff Flake, a Trump critic who’s not seeking re-election.

They include a focus on immigration enforcement, a knack for getting away with things that would sink the careers of other politicians and a talent for garnering news coverage, Arpaio said.

“Isn’t it great to be compared to the president of the United States?” Arpaio told The Associated Press at his office in a Phoenix suburb.

The former six-term sheriff of metro Phoenix also said he and Trump have both been persecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Coal baron’s ‘action plan’ became Trump policy initiatives

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the early days of the Trump administration, the head of one of America’s largest coal companies sent a four-page “action plan” to the White House calling for rollbacks of Obama-era environmental and mine safety regulations.

“We have listed our suggested actions in order of priority,” Robert “Bob” Murray, the chairman and CEO of Ohio-based Murray Energy, wrote in his March 1 letter addressed to Vice President Mike Pence. “We are available to assist you and your administration in any way that you request.”

A review of the memo by The Associated Press shows Murray, an early campaign supporter of President Donald Trump and major GOP political donor, has gotten about half the items on his wish list. They include pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accords and revoking the Clean Power Plan, former President Obama’s signature effort to limit planet-warming emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Murray has spoken widely about his policy priorities in the intervening months, but a copy of his four-page plan became public this week after it was obtained by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and first reported by The New York Times.

Under Trump, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has also moved to reconsider rules meant to protect miners from breathing coal and rock dust — the primary cause of black lung — and diesel exhaust, which can cause cancer.

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Toyota-Mazda plant: Alabama bids to become a major auto hub

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama, seeking the fast lane in its bid to become a major auto making hub in the South, has landed a coveted $1.6 billion joint venture plant by Japanese car giants Toyota and Mazda that will eventually employ 4,000 people.

The new plant is to be located in Huntsville, Alabama — already a hub for the region’s budding aerospace industry — and will produce 300,000 vehicles per year, a combination of the Toyota Corolla compact car and a new small crossover SUV from Mazda. Production is targeted to begin by 2021.

“This is indeed a great day in Alabama,” an upbeat Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday, flanked by company executives at a news conference in the state capital, Montgomery. Alabama offered an incentive package worth more than $379 million to lure the plant.

Toyota and Mazda will join Mercedes, Honda and Hyundai which currently operate assembly plants in Alabama.

“This project will really put Alabama at the center of the Southern automotive industry,” Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said. “We can’t wait to see ‘Made in Alabama’ in those vehicles rolling down the assembly line.”

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Alabama offered $379 million in incentives for Toyota-Mazda

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama offered an incentive package of more than $370 million the Toyota-Mazda plant to build in the state. According to the Alabama Department of Commerce, the state’s offer included:

— $210 million investment credit: Toyota Mazda will be able to claim a tax credit of up to 1.5 percent of the qualified capital investment expenses over the next 10 years.

— $90.6 million payroll credit: The companies will get an annual cash rebate of up to 3 percent of the previous year’s gross pay roll for eligible employees for up to 10 years.

— $20 million capital reimbursement: The companies will get a reimbursement for eligible capital costs.

— $39.3 million sales and property tax abatement: The companies will get a reduction in sales and property taxes. That includes a $14.3 million property tax abatement over 20 years.

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China’s modern Silk Road hits political, financial hurdles

BEIJING (AP) — China’s plan for a modern Silk Road of railways, ports and other facilities linking Asia with Europe hit a $14 billion pothole in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s relations with Beijing are so close that officials call China their “Iron Brother.” Despite that, plans for the Diamer-Bhasha Dam were thrown into turmoil in November when the chairman of Pakistan’s water authority said Beijing wanted an ownership stake in the hydropower project. He rejected that as against Pakistani interests.

China issued a denial but the official withdrew the dam from among dozens of projects being jointly developed by the two countries.

From Pakistan to Tanzania to Hungary, projects under President Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road Initiative” are being canceled, renegotiated or delayed due to disputes about costs or complaints host countries get too little out of projects built by Chinese companies and financed by loans from Beijing that must be repaid.

In some areas, Beijing is suffering a political backlash due to fears of domination by Asia’s biggest economy.