Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Feds nab financier accused of netting $71 million in coronavirus loan fees
Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday against a man they say lied about being a lending institution, got approved as a pass-through for coronavirus loans, and "faked" his way into collecting more than $70 million in taxpayer money through his deception. Published March 1, 2022
Ukraine’s ambassador to join Jill Biden for State of the Union
Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. will sit with first lady Jill Biden for Tuesday's State of the Union address, the White House announced. Published March 1, 2022
Arizona woman sentenced for voting in dead father’s name
An Arizona woman was sentenced Monday to probation after admitting she illegally cast a mail-in ballot in her dead father's name. Published February 28, 2022
Stranded by U.S., Afghan allies wonder if helping was a ‘mistake’
Experts say tens of thousands of other Afghans who should have been evacuated were instead stranded -- including many who directly assisted the U.S. government and were promised a ticket out of the country under the Special Immigrant Visa program. Published February 28, 2022
Supreme Court ponders EPA’s role in stemming climate change
Coal-producing states and power companies went to the Supreme Court Monday to try to block the Biden administration from imposing the president's greenhouse gas policies without seeking more authority from Congress. Published February 28, 2022
GOP presses Biden administration on Afghan evacuees amid new terrorism concerns
Six months after the end of the Afghan airlift, congressional Republican investigators say it's time for the Department of Homeland Security to release details of the 76,000 Afghan evacuees who've been brought to the U.S. and released into communities around the country. Published February 25, 2022
W.Va. AG Morrisey says Republican attorneys general stepping up to stop Biden ‘overreach’
President Biden has raced too far and too fast in reshaping the federal government on everything from immigration to environmental policy, leaving himself open to serious legal challenges, said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Published February 24, 2022
Border Patrol agent kills illegal immigrant during chase in Arizona
A Border Patrol agent shot and killed an illegal immigrant during a chase through a remote canyon in southeastern Arizona, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. Published February 23, 2022
Supreme Court struggles for a solution to Biden’s handling of immigration ‘Public Charge’ rules
The Supreme Court cast doubt Wednesday on the way the Biden administration nixed a Trump-era rule pushing legal immigrants to be self-sufficient, suggesting during oral arguments Wednesday that the government was using subterfuge to try to get its way. Published February 23, 2022
Sheriffs want DHS alert when illegal immigrants are shipped to their counties
As the Department of Homeland Security ships tens of thousands of illegal immigrants throughout the country, sheriffs are demanding they be notified of new arrivals, saying if the feds can't keep track of the migrants, the locals will have to do it. Published February 22, 2022
DHS eyes more welfare for legal immigrants as Supreme Court hears challenge
The Biden administration has moved to make it more attractive for immigrants to sign up for welfare, laying down a marker just days before the Supreme Court is slated to take up the issue in a legal challenge seeking to restore tougher Trump-era rules. Published February 21, 2022
Last of Afghan evacuees leave U.S. military bases amid report of botched background checks
The last of the 76,000 Afghan evacuees pulled out of the country last summer have finally been released into the U.S., the government announced over the weekend -- just as a new report says they weren't all fully vetted. Published February 20, 2022
DHS has now released all 76,000 Afghan evacuees from military bases into U.S.
Homeland Security announced the departure of the last Afghan evacuees from military bases on U.S. soil Saturday, saying 76,000 of them have been processed and released into American communities. Published February 19, 2022
Supreme Court to hear case over Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ border policy
The Supreme Court said Friday it will take up a case involving the Biden administration's attempt to end the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" border policy. Published February 18, 2022
DHS celebrates drop in border crossings
Homeland Security on Friday touted a drop in arrests at the southern border in January, with Border Patrol agents making the fewest arrests of any month so far in the Biden administration. Published February 18, 2022
Virginia withdraws from Equal Rights Amendment appeal; says court was right to reject lawsuit
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares moved Friday to withdraw from a lawsuit trying to force the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution, saying the state now believes the lower court got it right by ruling against the amendment. Published February 18, 2022
Pentagon audit says dozens of potentially dangerous Afghans let loose in U.S.
Afghan evacuees made it to U.S. soil without being checked through all the government's security databases, an inspector general reported Thursday in a devastating investigation that confirms critics' worst fears about the program. Published February 18, 2022
New York street gang members busted on fraud charges after rapping about COVID unemployment
Members of the Brooklyn-based "Woo gang" were arrested this week on charges of trying to steal $21 million in pandemic unemployment benefits -- and authorities used their own social media posts to nail them. Published February 17, 2022
DHS’ plunging deportation numbers fuel legal challenge
Republican-led states pleaded Wednesday with a federal judge in Ohio to nix the Biden administration's new limits on immigration arrests and deportations, saying what Homeland Security is doing now amounts to an "abdication" of duty under the law. Published February 16, 2022
IRS blames pandemic, Congress for failure to process taxpayers’ returns
IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig acknowledged Tuesday the tax agency faces "enormous challenges" in providing service this year, but said taxpayers should direct their anger at Congress for not giving him enough money. Published February 15, 2022
