Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
GOP demands businesses punish Democrats who try to overturn Iowa House election
Four top Senate Republicans demanded Thursday that corporations punish Democrats who are "stealing" one of Iowa's House seats by overturning the results of the November election. Published March 25, 2021
DC Catholic churches win Holy Week reprieve from mayor’s coronavirus shutdown
A federal judge issued an injunction Thursday on Mayor Muriel Bowser's coronavirus restrictions on the city's Catholic churches, ruling that the District's limits of 25% capacity or 250 people at services violates fundamental worship rights. Published March 25, 2021
Democrats ‘silent’ as Joe Biden border surge spirals
House Democrats called more than 10 hearings during the last migrant surge to rake the Trump administration for its handling of the border. Yet now, with the Biden team slammed by a new surge, Democrats have put down their gavels and clammed up. Published March 25, 2021
Migrant child dies in Rio Grande; Border Patrol rescues 3-year-old
A 9-year-old migrant child died after being stranded in the Rio Grande but Homeland Security agents managed to rescue and revive another child and an adult from the river, the government said Thursday. Published March 25, 2021
James Comer demands Dems break silence, hold hearings on border surge
Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, demanded Thursday that Democrats break their silence and start to hold hearings to probe the border surge that's confounding the Biden administration. Published March 25, 2021
Joe Biden says border surge ‘happens every year’
President Biden downplayed the severity of the border surge Thursday, saying it "happens every year," and suggested things seem worse now because the Trump administration left him with a broken system unable to deal with the problem. Published March 25, 2021
Biden asks VP Harris to lead on border-surge negotiations
President Biden acknowledged Wednesday that the border is experiencing "serious spikes" of illegal immigration and gave Vice President Kamala Harris the job of fixing it. Published March 24, 2021
Support for border wall surges as border ‘crisis’ intensifies
Americans are increasingly saying, "Build the wall." A majority of voters now say they want to see the government finish construction of former President Donald Trump's border wall, according to new polling from the Senate Opportunity Fund, which also found Americans itching for a tougher approach to illegal immigration than President Biden is taking. Published March 23, 2021
DHS releases images of migrants packed in border pens
Homeland Security released images Tuesday of children packed in pens in Border Patrol stations, rushing to try to regain control of the narrative after leaked photos already exposed the troubling conditions. Published March 23, 2021
ICE ‘draft declaration’ seeks to shape testimony on Joe Biden deportation policies
ICE's chief of staff has written a "draft declaration" for agency employees to use if they are called to give testimony in court cases dealing with the Biden administration's deportation policies, The Washington Times has learned. Published March 22, 2021
Shaneesha White charged fraud in use of benefits for plastic surgery, feds say
Federal prosecutors announced charges Monday against a Buffalo woman they said bilked the government of nearly $50,000 in coronavirus unemployment benefits, then used the money to pay for a trip to Florida and two plastic surgeries. Published March 22, 2021
ICE signs contract for 1,200 more detention beds to fight border surge
ICE said Monday it has signed a contract to set up more than 1,200 new detention beds to process migrant families, in a move that expands the agency's ability to test new arrivals for the coronavirus. Published March 22, 2021
Joe Biden faces growing bipartisan worry over border
An Arizona Democratic senator added her voice Monday to growing bipartisan complaints over President Biden's handling of the border, labeling the situation an "ongoing crisis" and demanding immediate steps. Published March 22, 2021
Alejandro Mayorias, Homeland Security secretary: Biden team has plans to diffuse migrant surge
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, fresh from a trip to the border, made the rounds of the Sunday political talk shows to try to defuse growing worries over the Biden team's handling of the migrant surge, insisting they have plans to solve the situation. Published March 21, 2021
ICE ends long-term detention of migrant families
ICE has effectively ended long-term detention for migrant families, delivering a huge win to immigrant rights activists who for years had pushed for the move. Published March 21, 2021
Texas governor orders probe of drinking water at Biden’s camps for migrant children
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered an investigation Saturday into the water supply for a camp the Biden administration has opened for migrant children, after he said water at another camp proved to be undrinkable. Published March 20, 2021
House passes bill provides citizenship to ‘Dreamers,’ farmworkers in U.S. illegally
The House approved two bills Thursday that could grant citizenship rights to about half of the 11 million immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, with Democrats saying the current surge of migrants at the border shouldn't stand in the way of rewarding those who've already been here for years. Published March 18, 2021
Border Patrol union chief: ‘I do not know of one individual that does not think walls work’
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified to Congress this week that Border Patrol agents aren't necessarily fans of the border wall. Published March 18, 2021
Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS chief, faces call to resign over border situation
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is facing a call to resign from Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said Thursday that if the department chief can't change policies to solve the border situation he needs to find a new job. Published March 18, 2021
Crash that killed 8 illegal immigrants followed 50-mile chase at 100 MPH
Federal agents brought charges Wednesday against a man they say was responsible for the deaths of eight illegal immigrants in Texas he was trying to smuggle deeper into the U.S. Published March 17, 2021