U.S. MARINE assigned to 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit escorts evacuees during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, Aug. 18. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Nicholas Guevara)

As the time remaining to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan dwindles to less than a week, about 1,500 Americans remain in the country.

Of that number, 500 are seeking to be airlifted out and the status and intentions of 1,000 more are unclear, according to the U.S. State Department.

The American, British and Australian governments are warning their citizens to stay clear of the Kabul airport because of the impending danger of a terrorist attack, reported The New York Times. The prospect of an attack is alleged to come from ISIS-K, the Afghan version of the Islamic state which is described as an enemy of not only the United States but also of the Taliban, who seized control of the central Asian county in a lightning campaign that lasted 13 days.

According to the Associated Press, the number of Americans yet to be evacuated suggests that the goal of airlifting all U.S. citizens from Afghanistan by the Aug. 31 deadline can be met. Many Afghans have been flown out, but thousands are still seeking to leave.

“Evacuating Americans is our top priority,” said Secretary of State Tony Blinken, adding, “We’re also committed to getting out as many Afghans at-risk as we can before the 31st,” according to the AP.

Supreme Court backs “Stay in Mexico” policy

UNITED STATES Supreme Court building (Flickr/Geoff Livingston).

On a 6-3 vote Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling requiring the reinstatement of the “Stay in Mexico” policy for those seeking to seek asylum in the U.S.

According to National Public Radio, the court majority indicated the Biden administration “appeared to act arbitrarily and capriciously” in reversing a policy of the Trump administration. Under that 2019 policy, those seeking political or other asylum were required to remain south of the border to await immigration hearings.

The legal action to re-instate the policy originated with a lawsuit by the State of Texas arguing that allowing the immigrants to cross the border while awaiting the results of the immigration court’s decision placed a burden on local governments.

Church shooter’s death sentence upheld

DYLAN ROOF (Wikipedia).

A federal court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence pronounced in the 2015 Charleston church massacre.

According to USA Today, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to set aside the sentence to Dylan Roof, a white supremacist who fatally shot nine people inside a predominantly black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

He received the death sentence in 2017 after being convicted of opening fire on congregants at the Emanuel AME Church during the closing prayer of a Bible study session.

Roof’s public defender argued that his client had without evidence of schizophrenia because he expected to be rescued by white nationalists during the trial, according to the Associated Press.