OUR PICKSThe World Is Wooing U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump | Tackling the Spyware Crisis | Administration Welcomed White Afrikaners While Ending Afghan Protections, and more

Inside the Extraordinary Contradictions in Trump’s Immigration Policies  (Hamed Aleaziz and Michael Crowley, New York Times)
The Trump administration carved out an exception to its refugee ban for white South Africans. But other groups, including Afghans who helped U.S. forces during the war in their country, are being shut out.

America Is the Land of Opportunity—For White South Africans  (Nick Miroff, The Atlantic)
Trump has frozen refugee admissions and cut off resettlement funding, but he has made an exception for white South Africans, who he says are victims of racial discrimination.

Trump Administration Welcomed White Afrikaners While Ending Afghan Protections  (Sareen Habeshian, Axios)
Allowing white Afrikaners to come in as refugees shows a split screen of President Trump’s immigration crackdown, accepting one group while revoking protections from the other. Since taking office, Trump has sought to get rid of some U.S. refugee admission policies, which have traditionally been focused on resettling people fleeing violence, war, famine and genocide.
Over 9,000 Afghans could face deportation after the Department of Homeland Security announced the revocation of their temporary protected status on Monday.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions,” the department said.
Since taking office for a second time, his administration has moved to end temporary deportation protections for an estimated 300,000-plus Venezuelans living in the United States, as well as for Haitian migrants.

The World Is Wooing U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump  (Patricia Cohen, New York Times)
As President Trump guts American research institutions, world leaders see a “once-in-a-century brain gain opportunity.”

How Much Worse Could America’s Measles Outbreak Get?  (Economist)
Our charts show how falling vaccination rates could lead to a surge in cases.

A Toxic Pit Could Be a Gold Mine for Rare-Earth Elements  (Jim Robbins, New York Times)
At the Berkeley Pit, researchers hope to extract valuable metals to increase U.S. production of rare earths used in electric cars, medical advances and national defense.

Renewable Energy Is Booming in Texas. Republicans Want to Change That.  (J. David GoodmanBrad Plumer and Ivan Penn, New York Times)
Despite soaring power demand, Republican lawmakers in the Texas Legislature are pushing to rein in renewable energy, part of a national wave of Trump-era opposition.

Tackling the Spyware Crisis  (Nitansha Bansal and Jen Roberts, National Interest)
Domestic investment in spyware is undermining national security at all levels of society.