Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Supreme Court allows Trump asylum rules enforcement
The Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for the Trump administration to deny asylum to migrants from other countries who traveled through Mexico before reaching the U.S., giving the administration a major win as it tries to stop the border surge. Published September 11, 2019
Neil Gorsuch on Congress: ‘It’s not my job to do their job’
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch may be the most optimistic lawyer in America today -- which is surprising because he just published a book looking at where America's experiment in constitutional governance is struggling. Published September 8, 2019
Neil Gorsuch brings Colorado perspective to Supreme Court
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch takes a similar approach to the law as his predecessor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, but has a very different way of fishing. Published September 8, 2019
Chuck Schumer says guns, election security top Dem agenda
As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sees it, the fall agenda for Congress is more of the same -- speeding President Trump's nominees and working to keep the government open with a new round of spending bills. Published September 5, 2019
Migrant smuggling across Mexico border common and deadly
While sneaking illegal immigrants over fences or across rivers is the most common method, the deaths of the migrants highlight the more lucrative trade in bringing them straight through the country's front door undetected. Published September 4, 2019
Migrant children overwhelmed with trauma, audit finds; Trump policies partly responsible
Migrant children who come to the U.S. without their parents or who got separated from them by the government suffered serious trauma and the Health and Human Services Department shelters charged with caring for the children are struggling to deliver, a new inspector general's report concluded Wednesday. Published September 4, 2019
Jerrold Nadler demands docs on alleged Trump pardons to DHS
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler demanded Wednesday that Homeland Security turn over any documents that would show President Trump attempted to offer pardons to officials willing to break to the law to carry out his immigration policies. Published September 4, 2019
Donald Trump says border wall being built ‘very rapidly’
President Trump on Wednesday defended his decision to use emergency powers to build his border wall, siphoning money away from military projects, saying "we need help on the border." Published September 4, 2019
HHS shelters for migrant children dinged over background check failures
A majority of the government's facilities to house illegal immigrant children awaiting placement with families allowed employees to begin working before their full background checks were performed, an inspector general said in a report Wednesday, dinging the Health Department system for lapses. Published September 4, 2019
Neil Edwin Valera arrested after Chinese illegal immigrants found dead in car trunk
Passersby saw blood dripping out of the BMW, and said there was a foul smell emanating from the car, left on a city street in San Diego. Published September 3, 2019
Donald Trump triggers Pentagon cuts to pay for border wall
President Trump informed Congress on Tuesday that he will trigger his emergency powers to divert $3.6 billion away from the Pentagon's facilities budget and instead use it to build more of his border wall, seeking to make as much progress as possible before next year's election. Published September 3, 2019
Immigration agency reverses, says it will still approve leniency for deportations
Homeland Security announced Monday that it will once again begin approving petitions for a stay of deportation for migrants with hardship cases such as major medical problems, after being hit with a ferocious backlash when it stopped taking the cases. Published September 2, 2019
Department of Homeland Security officials slam reporters for misinformation on citizenship story
Department of Homeland Security officials chided reporters Thursday for bungling a story on changes to the definition of residence in citizenship guidelines, leaving many Americans wrongly convinced the Trump administration was tweaking birthright citizenship. Published August 29, 2019
James Comey’s Trump memos violated FBI policy; no prosecution for fired director
Fired FBI Director James B. Comey didn't leak classified information to the press, but he mishandled his memos detailing conversations with President Trump and jeopardized the FBI's investigation by giving non-secret details to the press for his own personal gain, an inspector general concluded Thursday. Published August 29, 2019
Hispanic voters’ support for Donald Trump drops in 10 states
President Trump won more than a third of Hispanic voters in Texas in 2016, but only a little more than one-fifth say they would vote for him in 2020, according to a new massive poll of battleground states. Published August 28, 2019
Johnny Isakson to resign at end of year
Sen. Johnny Isakson announced Wednesday he'll resign his seat at the end of this year, saying his health has deteriorated to the point where he no longer feels he's able to give his Georgia constituents the service they deserve. Published August 28, 2019
DHS to use disaster money for border security, deportations
The Department of Homeland Security has alerted Congress it will shift hundreds of millions of dollars to boost its ability to hold and quickly deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, drawing a rebuke from Democrats who said the money is being cut from critical needs such as disaster relief. Published August 27, 2019
Anthony Scott Levandowski, former Google exec, charged with stealing secrets for Uber
Anthony Scott Levandowski, a former executive at Google who pioneered self-driving car technology for the company, now faces 33 charges of stealing company secrets and taking them with him when he went to work for Uber, prosecutors said Tuesday. Published August 27, 2019
Jerrold Nadler prods court to force Don McGahn testimony
With the window on possible impeachment closing, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler asked a federal court Monday to speed up a decision on whether to force former top White House lawyer Don McGahn to have to testify. Published August 26, 2019
Dem states sue to stop DHS plan to detain illegal immigrant families
A coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general announced Monday they are suing to block the administration's new rules that would allow immigrant families who are in the U.S. illegally to be detained while their deportation hearings are taking place. Published August 26, 2019
