U.S. bishop personally escorts asylum seekers across U.S.-Mexico border

As tensions at the U.S.-Mexico border continue to mount, El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz successfully shepherded a group of migrants who had previously been denied asylum in the United States across the border on Thursday, describing their plight as “an affront to human rights and human dignity.”

The bishop spoke to Crux just hours after he crossed the Laredo International Bridge into Mexico: First to accompany migrants who had been returned from El Paso to Ciudad Juárez as part of the Remain in Mexico program, then to make a return voyage with seven new individuals seeking asylum. Seitz recalled it as both one of the most “joyful” and “heart wrenching” experiences in his time as bishop.

On Wednesday - the same day in which a photo was published of a dead El Salvadoran father and two-year-old child who drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande after being denied asylum in the United States - Seitz announced that he and leaders of the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez would lead a joint effort at the border to highlight the “devastating consequences of inhumane border policies.”

Throwback Thursday: Warren bill would let same-sex couples amend tax returns for bigger refunds

A bill proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Richard Neal, both Democrats of Massachusetts, could grant same-sex couples across the U.S. an estimated $67 million in tax refunds.

The Refund Equality Act of 2017, which was introduced on Thursday, would ensure legally married same-sex couples — who until the Supreme Court’s 2013 United States v. Windsor case were barred from filing federal taxes jointly — are permitted to file amended tax returns back to the date of their marriage.

“For nearly a decade, legally married same-sex couples had to file their taxes as single persons, often paying more taxes than they would owe if they could file as married,” Warren said in a statement emailed to NBC News.“This bill is a simple fix to allow same-sex couples to claim the tax refunds they earned but were denied because of who they love.”

Currently, married couples who previously filed taxes separately are only permitted to file amended joint returns dating back three years. This restriction does not allow gay couples who were married in jurisdictions that recognized same-sex marriage prior to the Windsor case to claim refunds for the entirety of their marriage. The Refund Equality Act would create an exemption to this three-year limit.

Man named Henry Ford wanted for stealing cars

A Detroit Man named Henry Ford is wanted for stealing vehicles in and around the Motor City.

WXYZ in Detroit reports that the 49-year-old Ford has served prison time for the crimes, but recently cut off his tether and mailed it back to the Michigan Department of Corrections when he decided he should be off parole.

Most recently, he is accused of stealing tires off a Ford Ecosport. Evidence of his thefts was also found in his F-150, according to WXYZ.

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According to state records, Ford has an extensive criminal record that includes receiving stolen property, assault with a deadly weapon - felonious assault, possession of burglary tools and larceny of motor vehicles

"The time for small ideas is over": Warren at the California Democratic Convention

Not the best audio, but:

'Aggressive' 11-foot alligator breaks into Florida home

An 11-foot alligator broke into a Florida house and stunned its human inhabitants when they woke up Friday morning to be greeted by the massive reptile, police said.

The unwanted overnight visitor broke through low windows at the home in the Eagles Landing neighborhood and broke four bottles of wine, homeowners told NBC affiliate WFLA.

Clearwater police spokeswoman Joelle Castelli called the alligator "aggressive."