Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
DHS cancels deportation request for hit-and-run killer
Heriberto Fuerte-Padilla, an illegal immigrant, was driving drunk in 2020 when he smashed into the car driven by a Texas teenager, killing her. He tried to flee the scene, but police caught up with him. The Homeland Security Department initially said it wanted authorities to pick him up and deport him once Texas punished him, but then it changed its mind. Published January 30, 2022
Endangered wolf blocked by Trump’s border wall found shot in New Mexico
Environmentalists are blaming President Trump's border wall after a Mexican gray wolf who was trapped in the U.S. by the barrier was found shot in the leg in New Mexico this week. Published January 29, 2022
GOP states sue to stop Biden’s special program for Central American kids
Republican attorneys general broadened their legal battle against President Biden's immigration policies in a new lawsuit announced Friday that challenges a federal program to shortcut the smuggling journey and bring children directly from Central America. Published January 28, 2022
Wisconsin community hosting Afghan evacuee camp gets a mountain of trash, stuck with the bill
It turns out that adding 13,000 Afghan evacuees -- a small city's worth of people -- to a local community can stress things out a bit. For one thing, there's the trash. A lot more of it. Published January 27, 2022
McConnell urges Biden to ignore radical left in picking new justice
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that the Supreme Court vacancy gives President Biden a new chance to make good on his promise to be an uniter for the country. Published January 27, 2022
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer set to retire
Justice Stephen G. Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, closing out a decades-long tenure for the liberal-leaning justice and giving President Biden his first chance to shape the court. Published January 26, 2022
Viral video shows illegal immigrants released at the border
A new viral video shows illegal immigrants nabbed at the border in Texas being released, ferried to airports and dropped off to catch flights taking them deeper into the U.S. Published January 26, 2022
OSHA cancels business vaccine mandate after Supreme Court loss
OSHA announced Tuesday that it was canceling its emergency policy mandating large businesses require employees to be vaccinated or face masking and testing, after the Supreme Court put the policy on ice earlier this month. Published January 25, 2022
Smuggler who used coffin to move illegal immigrants pleads guilty
A man who used a coffin to try to smuggle illegal immigrants through a border checkpoint in Texas pleaded guilty Tuesday. Published January 25, 2022
DHS encountered a record 2 million illegal immigrants on southern border in 2021
Homeland Security recorded more than 2 million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border last year, shattering previous records, as the Biden administration relaxed the country's immigration policies. Published January 24, 2022
Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Pelosi’s proxy-voting scheme
The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's coronavirus pandemic rule allowing lawmakers to vote without being on the House floor by giving the power to cast their vote to another member. Published January 24, 2022
Supreme Court to hear challenge to race in college admissions
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a discrimination case involving Asian students who say Harvard University's affirmative action system discriminates against them. Published January 24, 2022
Noncitizens skip the vote despite efforts to entice participation in local elections
Montpelier City Clerk John Odum chuckled when he was asked how many noncitizens had registered to vote ahead of the Vermont city's municipal elections in March -- the first time they will have the chance to cast ballots. Published January 24, 2022
Judges say Biden vaccine mandates lack congressionally approved authority
President Biden is now batting 25% in his push for vaccine mandates on American workers, after a federal judge in Texas last week shut down the White House's order requiring the federal workforce to get the shots. Published January 23, 2022
Court rules California county’s gun store shutdown order for COVID-19 was unconstitutional
The coronavirus pandemic cannot be an excuse to shut down gun stores, a federal appeals court ruled this week, delivering a belated spanking to a California county that shuttered stores and firing ranges in the early days of the virus. Published January 21, 2022
Judge halts Biden COVID vaccine mandate for federal employees
A federal judge issued an order Friday halting President Biden's order that all federal employees get the coronavirus vaccine or risk losing their jobs, saying the president overstepped the bounds of his powers. Published January 21, 2022
Federal judge blasts unvaccinated jurors as ‘selfish and unpatriotic’
A federal judge in Florida lashed out at unvaccinated potential jurors this week, calling them "selfish and unpatriotic" after he was forced to postpone a trial because he'd wanted to refuse to seat anyone who hadn't gotten a COVID-19 shot. Published January 20, 2022
Family of migrants including an infant found frozen to death at U.S.-Canada border
A family of four migrants from India were found frozen to death on the Canadian side of the border last Wednesday after getting separated from the larger group of migrants they were with. Published January 20, 2022
Supreme Court denies bid to force faster ruling on Texas abortion law
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a request from abortion clinics to speed up action on a case in lower courts challenging Texas's new law restricting abortions after about 6 weeks of pregnancy, and allowing private citizens to enforce the law by lawsuit. Published January 20, 2022
7-year-old migrant girl drowns in Rio Grande
A 7-year-old girl from Venezuela drowned Tuesday after she was swept from her mother's arms as they tried to sneak into the U.S. by crossing the Rio Grande. Published January 19, 2022
