Until now, President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has focused largely on blue states like Illinois and California. But Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has moved into the swing state of North Carolina, raising alarms about backlash from the state’s elected Republicans.

The move to expand immigration arrests to the Tar Heel State offers the “first test for whether the White House’s strategy can hold up in a purple state,” said Politico. Local GOP officials have already expressed concern about high-profile incidents at a Charlotte shopping center and a local country club. The arrests have also triggered protests and business closures. The raids are leaving a “real sour aftertaste” with voters, said Edwin Peacock III, a Republican who recently ran for Charlotte City Council. “Is the price of doing this worth it?” The bad publicity is “maybe having a negative impact on my party,” said former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

What did the commentators say?
“Why give voters in such a crucial state another reason to dislike Trump and his agenda,” Paige Masten said at The Charlotte Observer. Border Patrol “might be received differently” if it focused on arresting violent criminals, but instead the public has been treated to stories of “aggressively rounding up undocumented people at random or wrongfully targeting U.S. citizens.” 

While the “flash operation” in Charlotte does not represent the “immigration system North Carolina needs,” it is also wrong to “demonize federal agents” for enforcing the law, Andrew Dunn said, again at The Charlotte Observer. A wise system would welcome migrants “as full participants in our civic life” as long as they “come through the front door” legally. But if undocumented migrants can flout the system without fear of repercussions, “we don’t have an immigration system.”

What next?
A recent poll found the number of North Carolina residents who say the state is on the “wrong track” has risen by 20 points since Trump’s election, said Reuters. Democrats say they will fight back in the coming months “by arguing the Trump administration is overreaching.”

The Department of Education’s decision to exclude several professions from being considered professional degree programs, most notably nursing, has drawn outcry from nurses and nursing groups. The declassification restricts funding for students seeking graduate education. Experts and nurse advocacy groups note that the industry is already suffering from a nursing shortage. 

Why will nursing be excluded?
As part of the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the Grad PLUS program, which helped graduate and professional students secure funding for educational costs, is being eliminated. The bill also creates a new Repayment Assistance Plan, under which new annual loans for new borrowers are capped at $20,500 annually for graduate-level students and $50,000 a year for professional students. 

The Department of Education classified the following programs as professional: medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, law, veterinary medicine, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, chiropractic, theology and clinical psychology. Nurse practitioners, along with physician assistants, audiologists and physical therapists, were omitted from that list. The goal of the changes is to ensure that borrowers will not face “insurmountable debt to finance degrees that do not pay off,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent in a statement.

What could this mean for the future of nursing?
The changes have prompted pushback from nursing professionals and organizations, who say the funding cut will negatively impact an already strained industry. The department’s decision is “undermining efforts to grow and sustain the nursing workforce,” the American Nurses Association said in a press release. 

Nurses are the “backbone of our nation’s health system,” said Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, the president of the ANA. At a time when the country “faces a historic nurse shortage and rising demands,” limiting access to funding for graduate education “threatens the very foundation of patient care.” 

The reaction to the declassification is “fake news at its finest,” said Department of Education Press Secretary for Higher Education Ellen Keast to Newsweek. The department has had a “consistent definition of what constitutes a professional degree for decades.” It is not surprising that “some institutions are crying wolf over regulations that never existed because their unlimited tuition ride on the taxpayer dime is over.” 

Firefighters tackle a blaze engulfing residential buildings in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, China, last night. Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years tore through an eight-tower high-rise complex, killing at least 36 people and entrapping some residents, with another 279 people reported missing.
Yik Yeung-man / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Spotting a travel center with rows of gas pumps and a large convenience store is a welcome relief on any road trip. Finding a truly unique facility, like Pops 66 Soda Ranch in Oklahoma or Barack Obama Plaza in Ireland, guarantees an even better experience. Refuel your car — and stomach — at one of these rest stops.

Barack Obama Plaza, Moneygall, Ireland
At this “tribute” to former President Barack Obama, whose maternal lineage traces back to Moneygall, travelers can purchase gas, food and shirts that declare “Is Féidir Linn” (“Yes We Can” in Gaelic), said Atlas Obscura. The plaza opened in 2014, three years after Obama visited the village.

EddieWorld, Yermo, California
If you see a giant ice cream sundae covered in sprinkles and topped with a cherry, you’re in the right place. This 70-foot sculpture greets visitors to EddieWorld, the largest gas station in California. Its market and food area is also massive, filled with rows of candies, chocolates, nuts and dried food and stations where you can order fresh pizza, sushi, burgers, sandwiches, coffee, homemade popcorn and jerky. 

Pops 66 Soda Ranch, Arcadia, Oklahoma
Need a caffeine boost? Pops 66 Soda Ranch has you covered. At this “weird, wonderful roadside attraction,” visitors will find more than 700 fizzy flavors, said The Takeout. Before you drive off, snap a picture or two in front of the massive 66-foot-tall soda bottle in the front, a nod to Pops’ place on Route 66.