Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
EXCLUSIVE: ICE officers demand freedom from AFL-CIO over mismanagement, ‘defund the police’ stance
The National ICE Council says its members are sick of being labeled "Nazis" and racists by fellow unionists and is filing charges with the Labor Department to seek financial autonomy from its parent unions, the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Government Employees. Published June 21, 2022
House GOP says Biden’s border wall halt is ‘illegal’ as delay tops 500 days
At some point President Biden's delay in building any significant new sections of border wall will cross the line into being an illegal obstruction, congressional Republicans warned in a letter Tuesday to the White House demanding answers about the stall. Published June 21, 2022
Supreme Court rules religious schools can access taxpayer dollars
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine's tuition program allowing state funds to go only to nonreligious schools runs afoul of the First Amendment. Published June 21, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Unprecedented’ upheaval in immigration courts from Biden’s bid to reshape the agency
The Biden administration has been quietly packing the nation's immigration courts, ousting Trump-hired judges and installing judges deemed to be friendlier to the immigrants whose cases they hear, in what one Justice Department official called an "unprecedented" injection of politics into the courts. Published June 20, 2022
U.S. Marshals case puts spotlight on police cellphone tracking
The cellphone tracking tool that a federal agent allegedly used to track a former girlfriend may have been scuttled, but analysts say they fear police have even more invasive technology. Published June 19, 2022
Michael Avenatti pleads guilty to more charges of bilking clients
Michael Avenatti, the high-flying anti-Trump lawyer brought low by his criminal misdeeds, pleaded guilty Thursday to another set of charges related to bilking the IRS and embezzling money from clients. Published June 16, 2022
Border Patrol catches record number on terrorist list
Border Patrol agents recorded nabbing 15 illegal immigrants in May whose names popped a flag in Homeland Security's terrorism screening database, according to data released by Homeland Security this week that showed the free-for-all at the southern border continues unabated. Published June 16, 2022
Biden sets new monthly record for illegal border jumpers
Border authorities nabbed nearly 240,000 illegal immigrants at the southern border in May, according to numbers released late Wednesday that show the month marked a new record level of chaos for the Biden administration. Published June 15, 2022
Justices duck ruling on Trump’s ‘public charge’ policy for immigrants
The Supreme Court backed away from a case involving the Trump administration's attempt to impose a stricter financial test on would-be immigrants, with the justices ruling Wednesday that the matter became too muddied to offer a ruling at this time. Published June 15, 2022
Democrats propose marijuana amnesty for immigrants
Congressional Democrats have proposed an amnesty for immigrants with a history of marijuana use, saying those records should not be used to prevent them from gaining a more permanent legal status. Published June 15, 2022
Obama’s DACA decision reverberates 10 years after the announcement
When President Obama strode into the Rose Garden 10 years ago Wednesday to announce the DACA program, he knew it was momentous. But he couldn't have predicted just how much change it would bring. Published June 14, 2022
Feds ‘nowhere near’ understanding scope of pandemic fraud
The Secret Service has "hundreds" of investigations into international criminal syndicates suspected of stealing taxpayers' money from pandemic relief programs, the agency's top coronavirus official told Congress on Tuesday. But he and other federal investigators also said they can't yet say how much of the trillions of dollars paid out in relief was fraudulent. Published June 14, 2022
Deputy U.S. Marshal charged with using cops’ cell tracking tool to target ‘personal relationships’
Federal prosecutors revealed charges Tuesday against a deputy U.S. Marshal for allegedly using the government's real-time cellphone tracking tool on people with whom he had a "personal relationship" and also their spouses. Published June 14, 2022
Senators demand answers about the extent of work already done by DHS’ disinformation board
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas gave "apparently misleading" testimony to Congress about his disinformation board, Senate Republicans charged Tuesday in a letter demanding that Democrats call Mr. Mayorkas back for another chance to explain. Published June 14, 2022
ICE chief adopts new ‘free speech’ rules to limit investigations of journalists
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a new policy to limit the agency's entanglements with reporters, including requiring pre-approval before arresting journalists or subpoenaing their records. Published June 14, 2022
Feds claw back $10 billion from bogus pandemic loans
The federal government has recaptured $10 billion that the government wrongly paid out in pandemic loans to small businesses, according to new numbers Congress released Monday. Published June 13, 2022
Border control advocates want Americans to snitch on ICE’s immigration flights
The Federation for American Immigration Reform said Monday it wants to recruit Americans to inform on the government's attempts to fly illegal immigrants to destinations in the interior of the U.S. Published June 13, 2022
Supreme Court backs DHS’ ability to detain illegal immigrants
The Supreme Court delivered an affirmation of the government's system of detaining illegal immigrants, ruling Monday in two cases against migrants who'd sought the ability to be released while they fought their removal proceedings. Published June 13, 2022
Pandemic fraud syndicates eye next targets for theft of taxpayers’ money
Investigators are still trying to figure out how much was stolen from government programs during the coronavirus pandemic, but the big-time fraudsters have already moved on to find new targets. Published June 12, 2022
Court strikes down Mayorkas’ limits on ICE enforcement
A federal judge tossed out Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' policy limiting ICE's targets for enforcement actions, ruling Friday that the government has a general duty to try to detain and deport immigrants without documentation who have significant criminal records or who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge. Published June 11, 2022