Harris courts undecided voters. And, is Trump’s mass deportation plan feasible?

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today's top stories

Vice President Harris delivered the closing argument of her campaign yesterday, exactly a week before Election Day. She spoke in the same spot where former President Donald Trump held his Jan. 6, 2021 rally, addressing his supporters before they stormed the Capitol. More than 40,000 people went through security for Harris event yesterday, her campaign said, with additional attendees congregating outside the perimeter.

Vice President Harris speaks during a campaign rally on the Ellipse on Oct. 29, 2024 in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

• 🎧 This was the largest rally crowd of her campaign so far. But the intended audience was the swing states as Harris still tries to reach undecided voters, NPR’s Tamara Keith tells Up First. A big part of her speech was about her policy proposals like the child tax credit and having Medicare cover in-home care for seniors. She also promised to listen to the needs of Americans – even if they don’t vote for her. Now, Harris will travel to all seven swing states again in the short period of time left of the campaign.

Trump has promised that if he is elected president he will deport millions of people. There are more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. And Trump has said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to detain and deport non-citizens from an enemy nation during wartime.

• 🎧 NPR’s Jasmine Garsd says Trump is interested in utilizing local police for immigration enforcement. However, the president cannot legally compel police departments to cooperate with such efforts. During his presidency, Trump attempted to force police to collaborate with immigration enforcement, but it was deemed unconstitutional. Civil rights groups are prepared to challenge Trump’s proposals, including his plan to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to the Southwest border. Some states are working to implement their own immigration enforcement measures. And under a Trump presidency, those efforts are likely to intensify, with his Justice Department likely to support them.

The Biden administration is working to address the low wages of teachers in the federal Head Start preschool program by implementing a new rule. Many Head Start centers have struggled to hire enough staff to keep their classrooms open due to these low pay rates. Nationally, the average salary for Head Start teachers is around $41,000. In perspective, a public school-based preschool teacher earns around $53,000 on average.

• 🎧 The pay at Head Start, a program meant to help children living in poverty, is so low it forces its staff to live in poverty, NPR’s Cody Turner says. The pay has resulted in, nationally, nearly one in five Head Start teachers quitting last year, according to the Biden-Harris Administration. The rule the administration has created would require these teachers to receive a pay bump of as much as $10,000 per person. The problem is that without new funding from Congress, local programs would have to cover the cost of the pay increases, possibly leading to some programs cutting services.

Deep dive

Hershey Co. is introducing more non-chocolate candies to its lineup as costly chocolate candy curbs the company's sales revenue. Chris O'Meara/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Chris O'Meara/AP

If you are like me, you might have experienced sticker shock when walking into a store to buy candy for Halloween. Chocolate seems more like a trick than a treat at the register. This year’s price increase is primarily due to rising cocoa prices, which have soared due to several poor crop seasons that have diminished the supply of this key ingredient in chocolate bars. According to the producer price index, the cost of chocolate and confectionery manufacturing from cocoa has increased by 45% from January to September. Here’s a closer look into why this is happening and how the industry is fighting back:

• 🍫 The high cocoa prices are the result of volatile weather conditions in the world’s top cocoa-producing regions, such as the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
• 🍫 As a potential future-proofing method, farmers have increased cocoa tree planting in regions with more productive orchards.
• 🍫 Chocolate candy manufacturers are diversifying their offerings because of disappointing sales, expanding to a selection of sweeter, gummy and sour treats.

Picture show

Photographer Woosler Delisfort documents ceremonies from vodou, ifa and santeria traditions actively practiced today Woosler Delisfort hide caption

toggle caption

Woosler Delisfort

The exhibit “Our Sacred Place” at the HistoryMiami Museum has recently opened, aiming to highlight faith practices and ceremonies among Haitian Americans and others connected to the Caribbean and Africa. During this political season, Haitian Americans have become targets of disinformation, much of which is rooted in long-standing stereotypes about their religious beliefs and spiritual practices. The exhibition features the work of photographer Woosler Delisfort, who documents some of Miami’s vodou traditions. It includes nearly 150 photographs that capture ceremonies with origins in West Africa’s Yoruba culture.

• 📷 See photos from inside those ceremonies.

3 things to know before you go

Sean "Diddy" Combs speaks at press conference, 24 October 2007, announcing an alliance with Ciroc Vodka in New York. Sean Combs Enterprises will make branding decisions for Ciroc and will share in future profits from the vodka made by Diageo. STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

1. Two more lawsuits have been filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs this week, accusing him, in separate incidents, of grooming and coercing 10- and 17-year-old boys.
2. Teri Garr, an actor and comedian known for roles in Viva Las Vegas, Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, died yesterday at age 79. After her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 1999, she became an ambassador for the disease.
3. JPMorgan Chase has begun filing lawsuits against customers who exploited an “infinite money glitch” this summer. This technical issue allowed people to deposit fake checks and withdraw funds from their accounts.

This newsletter was edited by Treye Green.