Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Border numbers plummet as Biden’s new strategy kicks in
Homeland Security Department officials took a victory lap Friday after seeing illegal border crossings plummet in January, saying a new program to convert crossings into legal arrivals appears to be working. Published February 10, 2023
House votes to overturn D.C.’s illegal immigrant voting plan
A bipartisan House voted Thursday to block the District of Columbia's new plan to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, with lawmakers saying the city was crossing dangerous lines in trying to expand its pool of voters. Published February 9, 2023
Democrats discount pandemic fraud, fear it will taint government programs
As Republicans work to expose massive amounts of fraud in pandemic assistance programs, Democrats are responding with a feverish rearguard defense, saying that whatever the level of waste, millions of people were saved by the government's money. Published February 8, 2023
Biden slams ‘Big Lie’ politics for endangering Paul Pelosi
President Biden on Tuesday blamed what he called the "Big Lie" for last year's attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and pleaded for bipartisan condemnation of political extremism. Published February 7, 2023
Biden breezes by border crisis, pleads for bipartisanship on immigration
President Biden gave only the briefest of mentions Tuesday to the chaos at the southern border, acknowledging "problems" but saying his policies have finally begun to eat into record numbers of migrants coming from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela. Published February 7, 2023
Border Patrol leaders say they need more border wall, gaps leave the country vulnerable
Two senior Border Patrol chiefs told Congress on Tuesday that they need more border barriers because they help shape and control the flow of illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the U.S. Published February 7, 2023
Black Republican unloads after Democrats say border security is ‘white nationalist conspiracy’
Rep. Byron Donalds, a Black Republican, unloaded on Democrats on Tuesday after they tweeted that worrying about border security was a "white nationalist conspiracy," challenging them to say that to his face. Published February 7, 2023
10,000 cartel drones detected crossing U.S. border last year
One single sector of the southern border saw more than 10,000 illegal drone incursions from Mexico last year, a senior Border Patrol agent told Congress on Tuesday. Published February 7, 2023
Homeland Security Dept. confirms soaring migrant deaths at border
Homeland Security released its most comprehensive data yet Monday on southwestern border deaths, confirming a massive surge in 2021 that coincided with the start of the chaos that erupted on President Biden's watch. Published February 6, 2023
Debt crunch looms, but nobody knows how much is too much
As another debt fight looms on Capitol Hill, some experts say the fretting over the size of the government's credit card is premature. Published February 2, 2023
U.S. must weigh Taliban funds vs. Afghan misery
The money the U.S. is sending to avert a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan is also propping up the oppressive Taliban regime, and it has become so bad that an inspector general says federal officials need to rethink whether the U.S. support programs are worth it. Published February 2, 2023
Vast majority of billions in pandemic-aid fraud will never be recovered, watchdogs tell Congress
A single Social Security number was used to apply for pandemic benefits in at least 29 different states, investigators revealed to Congress on Wednesday, illustrating the size of the fraud that the government faced in doling out trillions of dollars in benefits. Published February 1, 2023
Hackers linked to Russia, China stole U.S. pandemic relief money, Secret Service confirms
Criminal organizations backed by the Chinese and Russian governments have been linked to pandemic fraud, the U.S. Secret Service confirmed to Congress on Wednesday. Published February 1, 2023
GOP wins showdown with Mayorkas as DHS allows agents to testify
Homeland Security will allow senior Border Patrol agents to testify to Congress, after Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas backed down from his earlier refusal, House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer said Tuesday. Published January 31, 2023
IRS subjects Black taxpayers to more audits, study finds
Black taxpayers are far more likely to face audits than others, according to a new study released Tuesday. Published January 31, 2023
Biden’s end of COVID emergency undermines his Supreme Court case on student debt forgiveness
President Biden has decided the coronavirus emergency will be over in early May -- which is a problem for his lawyers, who are about to go to the Supreme Court and argue that the pandemic gives him the legal leeway to forgive student debt. Published January 31, 2023
Drones and water slides: How cities spent Uncle Sam’s pandemic money
When the coronavirus pandemic struck, someone in the Mississippi government thought of drones. Published January 31, 2023
$5.4 billion in pandemic loans were paid to suspicious Social Security numbers
The government doled out nearly 100,000 pandemic loans to people whose applications were filed using suspect Social Security numbers, government investigators revealed Monday. Published January 30, 2023
Illegal immigrant ‘crushed’ to death in vehicle packed with 30 people
A smuggler forced 30 illegal immigrants into a vehicle, crushing one of them to death. Published January 30, 2023
Tens of thousands of federal employees bilked government of pandemic cash
Tens of thousands of federal employees stole taxpayers' money by filing bogus pandemic loan requests. Published January 30, 2023
