President Obama paid a rare visit to CIA headquarters, affirming his commitment to “dismantling and destroying” ISIS and meeting with top intelligence officials engaged in the fight. The meeting comes amid reports of the terrorist networks’ continued ability to carry out plots in Europe, Afghanistan and North Africa, despite US-led efforts which have wiped out some 25,000 ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria and torched millions of dollars in the group’s assets, and success on the part of Iraqi and Kurdish forces in reclaiming some 40 percent of ISIS-occupied territory in Iraq.

The Senate voted to ban imports of antiquities from Syria, in a bid to counter efforts by ISIS to loot and peddle ancient artifacts. The vote, which reflected an unusual level of bipartisan support, coincided with the release of a report, entitled #CultureUnderThreat, by a coalition of curators, advocates and others calling on the Obama administration to take even more forceful efforts to protect the cultural history of Syria and Iraq. 

Secretary of State John Kerry released his department’s yearly report on human rights abuses around the world, taking pains to categorically reject torture—a move seen as a shot at leading GOP presidential contender Donald Trump, who has called for the use of torture against suspected terrorists.

The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report entitled “The Trump Effect: The Impact of the Presidential Campaign on Our Nation’s Schools.” The report found that rhetoric in the 2016 race “is producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom. Many students worry about being deported,” according to the SPLC’s website.

An Islamophobe on the SPLC’s radar announced plans to hold an armed rally on the steps of the Georgia state capitol, and lead a procession to the headquarters of CNN this coming Monday. The organizer, a Georgia militia activist named Jim Stachowiak, billed the event as the “united against Islam and Islamic immigration refugee rally,” and said it was intended to “raise public awareness” of the threat he sees posed by Muslim immigrants and refugees.

Three former administration officials joined the campaign to persuade the Senate to hold hearings on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, onetime director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes, and ex-associate attorney general Tony West published an op-ed urging lawmakers to move forward on Merrick Garland’s bid.

Advocates circulated an article in USA Today pointing up the expected chaotic scenario should the Supreme Court split 4-4 in US v Texas, the pending challenge to President Obama’s immigration executive actions.

There was also considerable chatter about a new Clinton campaign proposal to create a new national office of immigrant affairs, to coordinate policy across the federal, state and local levels. Advocates had long pushed the Obama administration for such a hub, without success.  

Among other grantee activities:

--Human Rights First put out a scorecard faulting members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for underreporting hate crimes. The Anti-Defamation League was a partner in putting together the report.

-- Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus participated in a rally at the Supreme Court to push for Garland. The event was organized by MoveOn.org and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, among other groups.