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Today’s top stories

The Supreme Court lifted a temporary restraining order that barred federal immigration agents from conducting “roving patrols” and racially profiling people in the Los Angeles area. The decision, issued Monday, cleared the way for ICE and Border Patrol agents to restart aggressive immigration sweeps that began in June, sparking protests and leading President Trump to send National Guard troops into the city. The raids halted after the ACLU sued, saying that agents were targeting people based on skin color, accents or the type of work they did.

• 🎧 The brief, unsigned order from the Supreme Court didn’t give any legal reasoning for the decision, NPR’s Adrian Florido tells Up First. In a concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that demographic realities in LA and factors like race and work sites could be relevant to whether someone is residing in the country illegally. Florido says this emergency ruling is not the final word on the underlying lawsuit challenging racial profiling in ICE arrests. A court hearing is scheduled in LA later this month, and the case could eventually find its way back up to the high court.
• ➡️ Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security announced it’s launching an immigration enforcement operation in Illinois. It’s the latest escalation of federal action on Democrat-led U.S. cities and states.

The House Oversight Committee has released some documents given to it by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. The records include more than 200 pages from a book made for the late convicted sex offender’s 50th birthday. The pages include a lewd drawing and letter that appears to be signed by Trump.

• 🎧 There’s been very little daylight between Republican stances and Trump’s often-changing views on many topics — including Epstein, NPR’s Stephen Fowler says. Vice President Vance once agreed with Trump that the files must be released, then agreed with the president that there were no files, then agreed that the letter didn’t exist, and now agrees with Trump’s claim that it’s a hoax from Democrats. Trump campaigned in 2024 on releasing the files and exposing powerful people who hide the truth from the public. Many voters now see him as one of those powerful people and feel he’s broken his promise. Fowler says this topic is one of the few places where Democrats have leverage against Trump’s “otherwise complete control of the narrative in Washington.”

New scores from the National Assessment of Education Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card, show a drop in 8th-grade science scores since 2019 and 12th-grade math and reading scores in the same time period. Matthew Soldner, the acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), said scores from the “lowest performing students are at historic lows — continued declines that began more than a decade ago.” The IES is charged with measuring student achievement. These latest scores are from tests administered between January and March 2024, before Trump was elected president. Since then, the Trump administration has made cuts to the U.S. Education Department, including laying off more than half of the employees at the IES. Here’s what these test scores mean for students.

Today’s listen

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer’s badge and weapon are seen as ICE conducts a vehicle checkpoint on Georgia Ave. on August 30 in Washington, D.C.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America

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When Trump sent the National Guard and federal agents into Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., some critics warned that racial profiling would lead to U.S. citizens getting caught up in the efforts to ramp up deportations. NPR spoke with a naturalized citizen in Washington who claims it happened to her just over a week ago. Chilo, who asked to go by her nickname because she fears repercussions for speaking out, moved to the U.S. after she was adopted from Nicaragua at 9 years old. She’s now 53, married and has a high school-aged daughter. She says two men in camouflaged masks stopped her and told her she did not “look like a citizen.” Cheelo says she believes this happened to her because she has brown skin and black hair. She tells Morning Edition’s Michel Martin that the experience left her scared that she would be taken away and feeling like she doesn’t “belong here.” Listen to their conversation here.

Picture show

Pastor Billiance Chondwe has known 9-year-old Diana Lungu since she was born. He helped her mother through a rough pregnancy and during Diana’s early years. Diana’s mother died of AIDS when Diana was nearing her third birthday.

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In April, NPR asked 12 HIV-positive Zambians to share their stories following the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued the memo calling for stop-work orders on all existing foreign aid awards, Pastor Billiance Chondwe — affectionately known as Pastor Billy — watched with horror and hopelessness as many U.S.-funded HIV clinics shut their doors. Today, he says that actions from the Zambian government have filled him with more determination and hope, despite a future that is far from certain. Check in with the people NPR spoke with in April, and see photos of how they’re doing now.

3 things to know before you go

1. For its seventh year, NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge received more than 2,000 entries from 45 states and the District of Columbia. Before we reveal the winner, check out the 11 middle school and 10 high school finalists, as well as the honorable mentions.
2. Since June, a slew of musicians — many of them independent — have pulled their music from Spotify to protest the CEO’s ties to Helsing, an artificial intelligence defense company. Some artists are now moving to a music ownership model that can balance their principles with making money, but it’s not an easy task.
3. Media titan Rupert Murdoch and his son and intended heir, Lachlan, have struck a deal to buy out the shares of Lachlan’s three eldest siblings. The move will ensure that the 94-year-old’s vast corporate empire, which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, will retain its conservative identity after his death.

This newsletter was edited by Obed Manuel.

Welcome to the week!🙋🏼‍♀️ I’m Nicole Fallert. Too early to think about “falling back”?

Quick look at Monday’s news:

Trump threatens troops in Chicago

It’s not clear where troops might head next: President Donald Trump recently suggested he could send them to Chicago and New Orleans. Governors traditionally decide when to deploy troops short of an insurrection, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has opposed the move in Chicago while Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry welcomed the possibility.

Why it matters: Trump’s threat to send National Guard troops to Chicago comes amid D.C. protests and a continuing lawsuit against the deployment in Los Angeles.

• Trump’s plans for deploying the National Guard to Chicago have been mixed. He said Sept. 2 he would send troops after a violent Labor Day weekend, before cautioning that he only wanted deployments where governors welcomed them — then paraphrased a movie.
• Meanwhile, protests — and National Guard deployments — continue. Several thousand protesters marched in Washington over the weekend to demand an end to the guard deployment, which features 2,000 troops from six Republican-led states. Crowds also gathered in Chicago.