Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Maryland court issues automatic block on deportations for migrants who file habeas petitions
The federal district court in Maryland has announced a new policy that automatically blocks deportation for any illegal immigrant who files a "habeas" petition challenging their arrest and detention. Published May 22, 2025
Judge blocks Trump’s attempt to shut down Education Department
A federal judge blocked President Trump from unilaterally moving to shut down the Education Department, saying Thursday that Congress created it and only Congress can end it. Published May 22, 2025
Divided Supreme Court affirms Oklahoma decision to block nation’s first religious charter school
An evenly divided Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an Oklahoma high court ruling that halted what would have been the nation's first religious charter school. Published May 22, 2025
Judge orders Trump administration to continue ‘DEI’ grant for school desegregation aid
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration wrongly shut down a grant to promote desegregation of schools in the South by claiming it was a DEI program. Published May 21, 2025
Trump’s firing of feds’ civil liberties watchdog was illegal, judge rules
Yet another of President Trump's firings was found illegal Wednesday, when a federal judge ruled he overstepped in ousting members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a privacy watchdog. Published May 21, 2025
Trump asks Supreme Court to shut down ‘intrusive’ probe of DOGE
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to step in and shut down what the government called a "sweeping, intrusive" legal discovery process against Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, saying a lower court has turned the law on its head. Published May 21, 2025
Judge threatens DHS with ‘criminal obstruction’ after illegal immigrants deported to South Sudan
Yet another federal judge is flogging the Trump administration for wrongly deporting people, this time to South Sudan, saying the government defied his orders to keep the illegal immigrants in the U.S. until they had full due process to challenge their removals. Published May 21, 2025
Justice Department moves to free Louisville, Minneapolis police from BLM-related monitoring
The Department of Justice said Wednesday it will move to release Minneapolis and Louisville from Black Lives Matter-inspired federal monitoring of their police departments. Published May 21, 2025
Judge slams Supreme Court for ‘disrespect’ to Trump
A federal appeals court judge unloaded on his superiors at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, saying they bent over backward to assist Venezuelan gang members and are risking the standing of the judiciary by rash rulings that disfavor President Trump. Published May 20, 2025
Resentment of ICE, backlash against its agents and mission rise alongside Democrats’ condemnations
Democrats have ramped up their anti-ICE rhetoric, and some Americans seem to be taking their words to heart and taking matters into their own hands by threatening -- and in some cases carrying out -- their own war on the government's deportation force. Published May 20, 2025
Rubio scorches Van Hollen: ‘We deported gang members … you had a margarita with’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio angrily denounced Sen. Chris Van Hollen Tuesday for his visit with an MS-13 gang suspect in El Salvador. Published May 20, 2025
Republicans balk at price of Trump’s border wall
Senate Republicans cast doubt Tuesday on President Trump's request for $46 billion in new border wall money, saying that would be enough to cover the U.S.-Mexico border more than two times over. Published May 20, 2025
Homeland Security chief Noem botches habeas corpus during Senate hearing
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem seemed to misunderstand what habeas corpus is during a Senate hearing Tuesday, flipping the core right on its head and saying it was a power of the president to deport people. Published May 20, 2025
Criminal prosecutions of illegal entry skyrocket after Biden lull; migrants feel full weight of law
The Trump administration is increasingly throwing criminal charges at illegal immigrants, seeking to bring the full weight of consequences on those who defy the law. Published May 19, 2025
Judge slams Trump’s attempt to shut down USIP, orders full restoration
President Trump's attempt to fire the board of directors and shut down the U.S. Institute of Peace was illegal, a federal judge ruled Monday, as she restored the ousted officers and told the government to keep the funding flowing to the USIP. Published May 19, 2025
Supreme Court allows Trump to cancel Biden’s deportation amnesty for Venezuelans
The Supreme Court delivered a key victory to President Trump Monday on immigration policy, allowing him to move forward with canceling a special deportation amnesty for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants. Published May 19, 2025
Trump unleashes on justices after Supreme Court blocks Tren de Aragua deportations
President Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court after it blocked him from using antiterrorism powers under the Alien Enemies Act to make any more deportations. He pleaded with the justices to "come to the rescue of America." Published May 18, 2025
Trump: ‘Supreme Court must come to the RESCUE OF AMERICA’
President Trump unleashed scathing posts about the Supreme Court, chiding its Friday decision to halt his deportations of alleged illegal gang members to El Salvador. Published May 17, 2025
Merrick Garland displayed ‘a breach of the oath’ by shielding Biden audio, congressman says
A congressman from Wisconsin said Attorney General Merrick Garland broke his oath of office by wrongly shielding the damning audio of President Biden's October 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur, which seemed to show the president's mental decline was worse than the White House acknowledged. Published May 17, 2025
Supreme Court blocks Trump’s Alien Enemies deportations, demands more due process
The Supreme Court hit pause Friday on President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang suspects, saying the administration was not giving them full due process and rights. Published May 16, 2025
