Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Illegal entry penalties in other countries include prison, labor camps, caning
Jumping the border in Singapore is punishable by six months in prison -- and not less than three strokes with a cane. In Russia, it can earn you up to two years in a prison labor camp. Pakistan goes as high as 10 years in prison, while India allows for up to eight years behind bars for those who sneak across its boundaries. Published September 23, 2019
‘Catch-and-release’ to end next week, Homeland Security says
Homeland Security will finally end "catch-and-release" of Central American immigrant families caught crossing the border illegally, acting Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan announced Monday, saying the department has finally gotten a handle on the migrant surge that had sowed chaos at the border over the last year. Published September 23, 2019
Deported Army vet allowed back into U.S. to apply for citizenship
An Army Special Forces veteran who was deported last year for drug convictions was allowed back into the U.S. on a two-week parole to make his case for earning citizenship, his backers announced Monday. Published September 23, 2019
Trump admin. reaches asylum deal with El Salvador
The Trump administration signed an asylum agreement Friday with El Salvador, giving the U.S. the right to repatriate migrants who cross through El Salvador to reach the U.S. and who then request asylum here. Published September 20, 2019
Kevin McAleenan, DHS chief, restarts program to delay deporting sick illegal immigrants
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan this week ordered his department to resume granting stays of deportation to sick illegal immigrants, even in cases not specifically covered by law, The Washington Times has learned. Published September 19, 2019
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
