Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
DHS finalizes plan to take over border asylum cases
Homeland Security released a final regulation Thursday taking control of decisions in border asylum cases, in a move analysts said is likely to lead to faster -- and more -- approvals. Published March 24, 2022
Democrats confident of Judge Jackson’s confirmation, accuse GOP of ‘conspiracy theories’ in hearings
Two days of headlines about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's sentencing decisions for child pornography offenders don't appear to have derailed her path to the Supreme Court, according to Democrats who control her fate. Published March 23, 2022
Judge Jackson says she would recuse herself from Harvard admissions case
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Wednesday that if she wins confirmation to the Supreme Court, she plans to recuse herself from an upcoming case involving race in admissions policies at Harvard University. Published March 23, 2022
Dems on defense, slam GOP for claims Judge Jackson is soft on crime, child porn
Democrats lashed out at Republicans Wednesday over their probing questions of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying the GOP was trying to tarnish the Supreme Court nominee and Black Harvard-trained woman with "conspiracy theories and culture war theories." Published March 23, 2022
Feds say EMS employee used his ambulance to smuggle illegal immigrants
A Texas emergency services employee has been charged with using an ambulance to try to sneak illegal immigrants deeper into the U.S. by trying to claim he was carrying a COVID-19 patient to a hospital. Published March 23, 2022
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson pushes back on scrutiny over light sentencing in child porn cases
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson vehemently rejected accusations of leniency toward child pornography offenders, telling senators Tuesday that she was following Congress' instructions when she habitually delivered sentences well below what guidelines suggested. Published March 22, 2022
GOP: Democrats hiding Ketanji Brown Jackson’s records on weak child-porn sentencing
Republicans accused Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee of hiding documents from them during the confirmation hearing Tuesday for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson related to her sentencing of felons convicted of child porn crimes. Published March 22, 2022
Federal judge rules Biden’s lax deportation policy is illegal
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas broke the law when he wrote new rules limiting which illegal immigrants can be arrested or deported, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, slapping an injunction on ICE that will limit its ability to pick and choose whom to target. Published March 22, 2022
Ketanji Brown Jackson says having women on Supreme Court ‘supports public confidence’
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Tuesday it would be "extremely meaningful" for four women to sit on the Supreme Court should she be confirmed. Published March 22, 2022
McConnell warns of ‘utter meltdown’ at border if Biden ends pandemic shutdown
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Tuesday of an "utter meltdown" at the southern border if the Biden administration ditches the Trump-era COVID policy allowing illegal immigrants to be expelled back to Mexico. Published March 22, 2022
Ketanji Brown Jackson refuses to weigh in on court packing
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson refused Tuesday to weigh in on whether there should be more than nine justices on the high court, a move progressive activists have advocated for in recent years. Published March 22, 2022
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson cites originalism as judicial philosophy
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday stressed her "limited" role as a federal judge, describing a judicial philosophy that resonated with even some conservative legal observers. Published March 22, 2022
Judge Jackson makes early overtures to Republicans during confirmation hearing
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson told senators Monday that she believes the Constitution grants a "limited" role to judges, kicking off her Supreme Court confirmation hearing with an early overture to Republicans who will decide how difficult a path she has to the high court. Published March 21, 2022
Documents show FAA ruled border drone ban illegal, then reversed the decision after DHS call
The Federal Aviation Administration had decided it was illegal to ban drones flying over the border in Del Rio, Texas, amid last year's surge of Haitian migrants, but imposed the ban after pleading by a Homeland Security official, according to emails obtained by House GOP investigators. Published March 21, 2022
Border Patrol union fears agents getting railroaded in DHS probe of ‘whipping’ Haitian migrants
President Biden was adamant after images of tense confrontations between horse-mounted Border Patrol agents and Haitian migrants emerged in September, vowing that the agents "will pay." Published March 19, 2022
Rep. Don Young, most senior member of Congress, dies at 88
Rep. Don Young, dean of the U.S. House of Representatives and one of Congress's more colorful characters, died Friday on his way back home to Alaska, his office announced. He was 88. Published March 18, 2022
Inspector general tells ICE to shut down migrant detention facility immediately
A private-operated ICE migrant detention center in Torrance County, New Mexico, is operating on a skeleton staff and conditions are so "egregious" that the migrants should be immediately pulled, an inspector general said in an emergency alert Friday. Published March 18, 2022
Border Patrol told it doesn’t have to expel Ukrainians who sneak into U.S.
Ukrainians who show up at the U.S. border without permission to enter can still be allowed in despite a pandemic border shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday. Published March 17, 2022
Feds have recovered less than 1% of $163 billion in bogus unemployment benefits
The federal government blew at least $163 billion on bogus pandemic unemployment benefit payments and has recaptured less than $1 billion of it, the program's inspector general told Congress on Thursday. Published March 17, 2022
Sheriffs vote ‘No Confidence’ in VP Harris over border chaos
The Western Sheriffs Association delivered a unanimous vote of "No Confidence" in Vice President Kamala Harris' handling of the migration crisis that's slammed the U.S. border, with the sheriffs calling for President Biden to sideline his No. 2. Published March 16, 2022
