Morning, y’all! Welcome back. Expect scattered showers and storms to return this afternoon, with high temperatures in the mid-80s.
Today’s newsletter explores the Georgia World Congress Center’s vision for the future, the local scenery that fills a popular new Amazon rom-com and the Braves’ West Coast woes. Plus: Nathan Wade speaks.
But first, a look at one way asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border play out in Atlanta.
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A LONG WAIT
Credit: Lautaro Grinspan/AJC
Credit: Lautaro Grinspan/AJC
On any given weekday, dozens and dozens of people line up along Atlanta’s Ted Turner Drive. They wait hours to get into the local field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They’re child care workers, landscapers, floor layers living all across state. They entered the United States illegally and have to check in with authorities.
And the lines to do so have reached unprecedented lengths.
“I haven’t seen this in 25 years,” Charles Kuck, a longtime immigration attorney, told the AJC’s Lautaro Grinspan.
- Georgia saw the seventh-highest number of new immigration cases in the country during the last two fiscal years. An average of 3,300 people checked in at the Atlanta field office in both February and March.
- Anyone who reaches U.S. soil can apply for asylum and new restrictions mean the government is rejecting twice as many claims as they did a year ago. But there’s not enough staff to review everyone, or enough detention space to hold them.
- What happens at the border “is like roulette,” attorney Marty Rosenbluth said. Plenty of migrants get released while they wait for their claims to make it to immigration court.
The massive nationwide backlog in immigration courts means those folks can legally live and work in the U.S. for years.
As long as they check in.
“What’s actually scary is if you don’t show up,” one migrant from Cuba told the AJC while waiting outside ICE’s Atlanta field office. “Then, it’s like you’re a fugitive.”
Added a man from Nicaragua: “If you miss a check-in date, you lose everything, everything you sacrificed to get here.”
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BILLION-DOLLAR DREAMS
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority is dreaming up ways to transform 20 acres of Downtown Atlanta parking lot into something less depressing — and a new $1 billion master plan includes greenspace, mixed-use development and improvements for pedestrians.
“We don’t want to be chasing after it,” one executive said of other big projects planned for the area. “We want to be part of the conversation and forward-looking with the property we control.”
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MORE TOP STORIES
» Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to pull out his veto pen ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for action on legislation passed by the General Assembly. Potential targets: at least one election-related matter and a ban on tax breaks for data centers.
» A fire at an apartment complex on Bouldercrest Road left one resident dead and several more injured, DeKalb County officials said.
» The Democrats challenging U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in this month’s primary say they know more than the incumbent about the newly drawn 6th Congressional District.
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WADE SPEAKS
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor who stepped down from Fulton County’s case against former President Donald Trump, spoke with ABC News over the weekend. He said he regrets his relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis becoming part of the high-stakes prosecution.
“Workplace romances are as American as apple pie,” he said. “It happens to everyone. But it happened to the two of us.”
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CEASE-FIRE STALLED
A day after the latest round of cease-fire talks with Hamas ended without a deal, Israel’s military ordered civilians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to evacuate. That suggests a long-promised ground invasion may be imminent.
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PULITZER DAY
Winners of this year’s Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious awards in print journalism, are set to be announced this afternoon. Expect plenty of controversy from the awards administered by New York’s Columbia University, itself a hotbed of tension amid ongoing college protests.
» Explaining America’s long history with campus protests
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ROUGH ROAD TRIP
Credit: Ashley Landis/AP
Credit: Ashley Landis/AP
The Braves rode the struggle bus all weekend in L.A., with Sunday’s 5-1 loss clinching a Dodgers sweep. Next up: A day off, then a home series with the Red Sox.
More sports highlights:
- Atlanta United’s 2-1 loss to Minnesota on Saturday extended its winless streak to five matches. As manager Gonzalo Pineda asks for patience, the AJC’s Doug Roberson explains what’s gone wrong.
- Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby in a photo finish. Atlanta-owned horses Dornoch and Society Man finished 10th and 16th, respectively.
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GEORGIA ON SCREEN
Amazon filmed the new Anne Hathaway rom-com “The Idea of You” entirely in Georgia. Savannah stood in for Paris, Atlanta Motor Speedway was Coachella, and Hathaway’s character’s home is an Airbnb in Poncey-Highland.
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GOOD EATS
This week’s roundup of restaurant news includes South End Smokehouse coming to a Chamblee food hall and new Italian bakery in Peachtree Corners.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Inmate escapes from Piedmont Newton Hospital
» Attorney General Carr questions Savannah’s ‘lock up your gun’ law
» Ozempic sends ripples through Atlanta health and fitness community
» Startup wants to curb hunger with new community market
» Georgia schools explore ways to curb unruly behavior in bathrooms
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ON THIS DATE
May 6, 1936
The Hindenburg, the biggest zeppelin ever constructed by Nazi Germany, took off for its first journey to North America.
It made many back-and-forth trips before famously exploding while landing in New Jersey a year later, killing 35 people.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Ryan Fleisher for the AJC
Credit: Ryan Fleisher for the AJC
AJC contributor Ryan Fleisher captured Kim Schifino of the band Matt and Kim rocking out during Day 3 of the Shaky Knees music festival. More photos here.
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ONE MORE THING
Before we go: Check out this fascinating story about country music star Randy Travis using artificial intelligence to create new music, even as health issues limit his ability to speak. “It was emotional, and it’s still emotional.”
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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