Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 📝 Unpacking President Biden’s executive order on immigration
• 🖼🤑 When fake becomes real
• 🤔 Could Facebook actually be the cool dad?

…and more. Let’s do it to it.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.64-minute read (1,236 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

"The more you extend kindness to yourself, the more it will become your automatic response to others."

–Wayne Dyer (1940-2015)

President Biden signed an executive order yesterday that essentially bans migrants from claiming asylum in America if they cross the southern border illegally, representing the most restrictive border policy of his tenure.

Let’s break it down: Prior to yesterday, migrants who illegally crossed the southern US border had the option to claim asylum, allowing them to legally remain in the US without fear of deportation while their asylum case was processed.

However, Biden’s new executive order bans such asylum requests when the seven-day average of illegal border crossings exceeds 2,500/day – a threshold that puts the order into immediate effect, since the southern border has seen 3,700 illegal crossings/day over the last three weeks.

• The asylum ban will remain active indefinitely until illegal southern border crossings fall below a rolling average of 1,500/day, a level last seen at the height of the pandemic in July 2020.
• Migrants who illegally cross the southern border while the asylum ban is in effect will face fast-tracked deportation to Mexico or their home country.

Biden’s order faces disapproval from both sides of the aisle. Many Republican lawmakers criticized Biden for waiting until the final year of his term to take executive action on the border, framing yesterday’s measure as a last-resort effort to change voters’ discontent with his immigration policies ahead of the presidential election.

• On the flip side, some progressive Democrats and immigration advocates denounced Biden’s order for what they framed as a violation of the universal right to claim asylum, and said the law will place tens of thousands of migrants’ lives at risk.

Looking ahead… The left-leaning ACLU announced plans to file a lawsuit challenging Biden’s executive order hours after it was enacted, arguing the measure is unconstitutional – similar to a Trump-era asylum ban that was eventually struck down in court.

📊 Flash poll: Do you support President Biden’s new policy that effectively bans asylum claims for migrants who cross the southern border illegally?

• Yes, I don’t have any major criticisms
• Yes – but it doesn’t go far enough and/or comes too late
• No
• Unsure/other

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🇨🇳🇭🇰 China and Hong Kong tightened security for the Tiananmen Square protests’ 35th anniversary. Hong Kong police arrested four people and disrupted others who tried to commemorate yesterday’s anniversary, which marked 35 years since ~180,000 Chinese troops and police violently broke up months-long student-led protests in Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds or thousands (data is sparse). In China, which has long suppressed any public mention of the military crackdown, Beijing’s Tiananmen Square featured checkpoints and police vehicles yesterday, with no reported disturbances.

🇮🇳 India PM Narendra Modi declared victory for his alliance in a closer-than-expected general election. Preliminary results show Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on track to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in a decade, despite exit polls that suggested a stronger showing. If confirmed, the results would mean the BJP remains India’s largest party, but must rely on allied parties to re-elect PM Modi and enact its legislative agenda.

🖼️ A Spanish thrifter hit the jackpot after buying a “fake” Degas painting online. In 2021, the unnamed buyer from Barcelona entered a bidding war on an auction website for the painting, which was initially listed for ~$1. After winning the auction with a $1,000 bid, the thrifter later consulted with a Degas expert and discovered the painting is actually authentic – and worth an estimated $8 million-$13 million.

These days, Facebook is trying hard to be the cool house where all the friend group hangs out. And it seems to be working.

The social media platform yesterday revealed that 40+ million US and Canadian adults aged 18–29 are using Facebook daily, its highest number in three years. This caps "five quarters of healthy app usage growth" among young adults, a company spokesperson said.

Why it matters: Young adults are a highly coveted demographic for advertisers (Facebook’s main source of revenue). And, like birds flying south for the winter, they’ve been leaving the platform in droves for platforms like YouTube and TikTok.

• 71% of teens (ages 13-17) use YouTube at least once per day, while 58% use TikTok at least once per day, according to data from Pew Research.
• By comparison, 33% of teens say they used Facebook in 2023. That number was 71% in 2014.

Land and expand

According to the company, user behavior shows young adults coming to Facebook initially to use features like Marketplace, Groups, and Dating at key moments in their lives – then, while there, “they check out stuff that's going on in Feed or from Reels," Meta's head of Facebook Tom Alison, told Reuters. Think: furnishing an apartment – go to Marketplace for a couch, stay for the memes.

👀 Looking ahead… Facebook is focused on three major initiatives to continue making inroads with young users: better discovery of relevant content in Feed, more of an emphasis on shortform video via Reels, and becoming more creator friendly.

“The intentions of the art are to not just to bring beauty to a home, but to also make a statement from the possessor, that life is a beautiful gift, and each moment is to be cherished.” – Steve Tate.

“A Tate” is not just a piece of art. It is a real story, of love, beauty, and imagination. Over the past 20 years, Steve’s work has been described as “one of a kind”, “like no other”, and “magical”.

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💬 Quoted: "No matter which industry you're in, people are all going to be creators.”

• Younger Americans are increasingly adding a new title to their LinkedIn profiles and resumes: “content creator.” According to HubSpot’s annual State of Consumer Trends Survey, 45% of millennials and Gen Z Americans call themselves content creators – despite many lacking the large social media following typically associated with the job. Of the Americans who refer to themselves as creators, HubSpot found one-fourth have less than 1,000 followers, while nearly half have under 5,000 followers.

🚆🛣️ Stat of the Day: Americans are starting to embrace longer commutes to work (the drive to survive) – likely because they’re happening on a less frequent basis, according to new research from Stanford University. Since 2020, the share of “super commutes” (75 miles or longer) have grown by nearly a third, while commutes between 50-74 miles rose by 18% and those less than 35 miles declined. Researchers say a large portion of the shift can be attributed to the widespread adoption of hybrid work schedules, allowing employees to sometimes work from home.

🤔 Did You Know? Last year, Costco sold ~10x more glizzys hot dogs than all 30 MLB stadiums combined (200 million vs. 20 million).

📰 Worth a Read: How Spider Silk Could Inspire Microphones of the Future → (Smithsonian Magazine)

• ☝️ The Siena Drone Photo Awards recently revealed its short list of finalists for the 2024 edition, which received 2,000+ submissions from 113 countries.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Doobert

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.2%; Dow: +0.4%; Nasdaq: +0.2%). | 💼 US job openings in April fell to their lowest level in over three years, per new federal data.
• 🤖 Elon Musk told Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips reserved for Tesla to two of his other companies (X and xAI), delaying Tesla’s $500+ million order by months, per a CNBC report citing internal Nvidia emails; Musk confirmed the report on social media, saying Tesla wouldn’t have been able to utilize the chips at the time.
• 🏆 Walmart leads the Fortune 500 ranking of companies by revenue for the 12th year in a row; Amazon, Apple, UnitedHealth Group, and Berkshire Hathaway round out the top-five.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 The Minnesota Vikings signed wide receiver Justin Jefferson to a four-year, $140 million contract extension; it’s the most lucrative non-quarterback deal in NFL history.
• 🍿 A Peaky Blinders movie has officially been greenlit by Netflix, with Cilian Murphy set to star and produce. | 📈 Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max is raising the prices of its ad-free options by $1/month, and $10–$20/year for its annual offerings.
• 🚫⚾ The MLB officially banned Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball games; four other players received a one-year suspension for betting on MLB games while playing in the minors.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🚀 SpaceX received FAA approval to hold the fourth, uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket, with a launch window that opens up tomorrow morning.
• 💊 MDMA (or “molly”) hasn’t shown enough evidence that it’s an effective PTSD treatment or that its benefits outweigh its risks, per a non-binding FDA advisory panel vote; the FDA will soon decide whether to approve MDMA treatments for PTSD.
• 🫀 More than 6 in 10 Americans are projected have some form of cardiovascular disease by 2050, according to a new report from the American Heart Association.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥵 Excessive heat warnings are in effect this week for 17+ million people in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona due to an ongoing heat dome; the weather is expected to reach the Pacific Northwest later this week.
• 🐶 A Virginia beagle breeder was fined $35+ million for failing to provide adequate veterinary care and staffing; it marks the largest fine for an animal welfare case in US history.
• 🏛️ Attorney General Merrick Garland testified yesterday before the House Judiciary Committee, with Republican lawmakers accusing Garland of targeting former President Trump while protecting President Biden. (Read more)

CLICKBAIT

• 🃏 Why Uno is still relevant 52 years after its debut.

James Kane and Barbie Agostini are magnet fishers. 

The hobby is just what it sounds like: using a large magnet to fish the bottom of a body of water for treasures.

• Magnet fishers typically find jewelry, knives, loose change, or other metallic treasuers – so when James and Barbie pulled up a locked safe from the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York, they were eager to see what was inside. 

😱 Hidden treasure... After prying the safe open, they were shocked to find stacks of cash totaling more than $100,000. Once police confirmed the safe wasn't attached to any crimes, the couple was cleared to keep its contents.

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🤳 5: Average number of hours each American spends on their phone per day.
2. 🎙️ 4 million: Number of podcasts available globally.
3. 🧊 12%: The percentage by which water expands when frozen.

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize.

Start referring.👇

1. 🤳 Under, 4 hours and 37 minutes
2. 🎙️ Over, 5 million
3. 🧊 Under, 9%