Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Impeachment calls may cause gridlock on deals in House
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her troops will face that question head-on, with Democrats increasingly agitating for the impeachment route and President Trump and fellow Republicans saying that will squelch any chances at doing big bipartisan deals on legislation. Published October 14, 2019
King County, Washington, officials shun ICE despite second sanctuary city-related killing
Prosecutors last week announced a second sanctuary city-related murder case involving an illegal immigrant in the Seattle area, but that has yet to shake local officials who despite the brutality of the slayings say they are not yet ready to begin working with ICE. Published October 14, 2019
Andrew Brunson, former Turkey ‘hostage,’ to pray at U.S. Senate on Tuesday
Andrew Brunson, the American pastor who was held captive in Turkey sparking a row between that country and the U.S., will deliver the opening prayer in the Senate on Tuesday. Published October 14, 2019
Trump immigration agenda in peril after rulings, Kevin McAleenan departure
President Trump had been on a winning streak on immigration, but that progress is suddenly imperiled after a series of court setbacks and the departure of acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan, the architect of much of the recent success. Published October 13, 2019
Trump broke law with border wall emergency, judge rules
President Trump's proclamation declaring a border wall emergency is illegal, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday, throwing a new hurdle in front of the government's plans to build hundreds of miles of new barriers. Published October 11, 2019
California bans private prisons in move that could dent ICE detention
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Friday that will eventually ban privately operated prisons and jails, including immigration detention centers, in a move that could put a strain on Homeland Security's ability to hold illegal immigrants. Published October 11, 2019
Federal judge nixes Trump plan for immigrants to be self-sufficient, calls English test ‘offensive’
A federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump's new rules requiring immigrants to prove they can support themselves, calling the administration's plans "simply offensive." Published October 11, 2019
Appeals court rules House can subpoena Trump financial records
A federal appeals court gave the OK Friday to House Democrats' subpoena demanding a trove of President Trump's financial documents from one of his accounting firms, in a ruling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labeled "a major victory." Published October 11, 2019
Illegal immigrant in hiding demands meeting with Democratic presidential candidates
An illegal immigrant who's been hiding in sanctuary in an Ohio church for the last two years said Friday she wants the Democratic presidential candidates, who are coming to the state for a debate next week, to come meet with her. Published October 11, 2019
ICE ‘criminal alien’ arrests plummet amid border surge
Homeland Security's success in curbing the border crisis came at a cost: ICE saw its arrest numbers tumble over the last year, officials revealed Thursday, saying they had to pull personnel off their usual duties of tracking illegal immigrants and gangs to send them to the border. Published October 10, 2019
Minority lawmakers say Trump takes their Pentagon money to build border wall
Racial and ethnic minority members of Congress complained Thursday that the Pentagon money being siphoned to build President Trump's border wall is coming "disproportionately" from their districts. Published October 10, 2019
Border surge sends immigration court backlog soaring to nearly 1 million cases
Homeland Security opened 444,000 new immigration cases over the past year, sending the immigration court backlog soaring to nearly 1 million, officials announced Thursday. Published October 10, 2019
Matt Albence, ICE chief, blasts judge for curtailing detainers on illegal immigrants
The government's top deportation official unloaded on a federal judge Thursday, accusing him of endangering American communities with a ruling late last month that curtailed ICE's ability to ask local authorities to hold illegal immigrants for pickup. Published October 10, 2019
Nita Lowey, Democratic chair of House spending committee, announces retirement
Rep. Nita Lowey, the first woman ever to serve as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, announced Thursday that she's retiring from Congress next year, closing out a 16-term career. Published October 10, 2019
Sanctuary county releases rape suspect who immediately targets victim again: ICE
An Oklahoma sheriff's department defied ICE and released an accused rapist from jail this week -- and within hours he was back at the door of his alleged victim, the agency said Thursday, saying the county's sanctuary policy put the woman at risk. Published October 10, 2019
Obamacare for illegal immigrants may cost taxpayers $23 billion a year: Study
Taxpayers could have to shell out nearly $23 billion a year to provide Obamacare coverage to illegal immigrants, according to a new analysis being released Thursday that puts a high price tag on one of the Democratic presidential candidates' top election promises. Published October 10, 2019
GOP early voting up in Louisiana gubernatorial election
Republican turnout surged in early voting in Louisiana's election this year in what one analyst in the state says is the beginnings of a backlash against Democrats' fixation on impeaching President Trump. Published October 9, 2019
Sanctuary city jails defy ICE detainers, release dangerous illegal immigrant criminals
Police in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue had a chance to get Carlos Daniel Carillo-Lopez, an illegal immigrant, off the streets in March -- but a local jail defied a deportation notification request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and released him into the community. Published October 9, 2019
Feds indict lawyer for enticing pregnant women to come to U.S., give up babies for adoption
Federal prosecutors unveiled charges Wednesday against a lawyer they said smuggled mothers into the U.S. in order to have them sign over their babies for adoptions to American families. Published October 9, 2019
Cesar Diaz-Rodriguez, illegal immigrant who threatened to shoot ICE officers, arrested in Houston
ICE said Tuesday it arrested an illegal immigrant who'd been making threats about trying to shoot deportation officers after repeatedly sneaking into -- and being kicked out of -- the U.S. Cesar Diaz-Rodriguez, 30, was snared in Houston on charges of illegal reentry. Published October 8, 2019
