Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Trump grabs another $3.8 billion from Pentagon for border wall
The Pentagon informed Congress Thursday it will siphon another $3.8 billion from its accounts to build President Trump's border wall, as he rushes to get as much construction done as possible before the end of the year. Published February 13, 2020
House votes to revive Equal Rights Amendment; faces constitutional hurdles
The House pushed through a bill Thursday to remove a four-decade-old deadline on ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, brushing aside Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's caution that they're barking up a dead tree. Published February 13, 2020
Rand Paul says YouTube censored impeachment speech with name of possible whistleblower
Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday accused YouTube of censoring his speech from the Senate floor last week about the impeachment trial -- a speech in which he mentioned a name some believe to be the whistleblower who ignited the investigation into President Trump. Published February 13, 2020
Donald Trump’s retreat on E-Verify called ‘takeover’ of immigration agenda
President Trump's new budget retreats on his campaign promise to require all U.S. businesses to use E-Verify to check their new hires, signaling the White House's surrender on one of the best tools to shut down the jobs magnet that spurs illegal immigration. Published February 12, 2020
Democratic presidential candidates’ electability reflects voters’ feelings on Trump, poll finds
Sen. Amy Klobuchar kicked off her primary-night speech in New Hampshire this week by touting her electability to voters, telling them "I'm Amy Klobuchar and I will beat Donald Trump." Published February 12, 2020
New York police chiefs back DHS in battle over state’s sanctuary law
The New York Association of Chiefs of Police is backing Homeland Security over its own state leaders in a growing battle over the state's new sanctuary law that not only grants driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but also bans immigration law enforcement agencies from access to motor vehicle records. Published February 12, 2020
Equal Rights Amendment intentions hijacked by LGBTQ movement
The ERA would declare equality of rights on "account of sex." What that means exactly is contentious. If the amendment is added to the Constitution, it would create a morass of legal questions -- chief among them whose vision of sex would control it. Published February 11, 2020
William Barr: ‘Rogue DAs’ responsible for rise in violent crime in big cities
Attorney General William P. Barr on Tuesday slammed "rogue DAs" he said are sabotaging the sanctity of the criminal justice system by bringing lesser charges or pleading down cases to keep people out of prison. Published February 11, 2020
Illegal immigration at border down for the eighth straight month
Border arrests dropped for the eighth straight month in January as the Trump administration's new policies continue to discourage new people from coming, according to Homeland Security officials -- though they're warning numbers are likely to go up as spring approaches. Published February 11, 2020
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Equal Rights Amendment supporters should start over
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Monday that the current version of the Equal Rights Amendment is dead, undercutting congressional Democrats just days before they plan to pass a bill trying to revive it. Published February 10, 2020
William Barr looks at criminal charges for sanctuary cities
The Justice Department unleashed a legal assault on sanctuary jurisdictions across the country Monday, filing a new round of civil lawsuits asking judges to overturn the policies, and warning state and city officials they could soon face their own criminal charges for harboring illegal immigrants. Published February 10, 2020
Coming to America for a bigger house
One Guatemalan town has nearly emptied of people as they rushed to the U.S. It wasn't violence that pushed them to flee, nor family ties that drew them north, according to a new Center for Immigration Studies report. It turns out they just wanted bigger houses. Published February 10, 2020
New York to sue DHS to protect sanctuary law
New York, stung by the Trump administration's sanctuary state spanking this week, announced Friday it will sue to try to prevent Homeland Security from banning its residents from signing up for trusted traveler programs. Published February 7, 2020
Ted Cruz tells Twitter to cut Iranian ayatollah’s account or face U.S. sanctions
Sen. Ted Cruz led fellow Republicans this week in a letter demanding Twitter cut business with Iran, saying that as an American entity it could face sanctions for allowing the ayatollah and the regime's other political leaders to hold accounts -- while censoring American political speech. Published February 7, 2020
New York sanctuary law shields DUI records from DHS
The Department of Homeland Security fired a broadside across the bow of sanctuary cities and states Thursday, announcing it had cut New York out of the department's trusted traveler programs, leaving hundreds of thousands of state residents to face longer lines at airports and border crossings. Published February 6, 2020
DHS suspends New York from travel program in response to sanctuary laws
Homeland Security fired a stunning warning shot across the bow of sanctuary cities and states on Thursday, saying New York is being cut out of the department's trusted traveler programs, meaning hundreds of thousands of residents will see longer lines at airports and border crossings. Published February 6, 2020
Donald Trump acquittal deals ‘deathblow’ to impeachment process, scholars say
Impeachment has now failed for the second time in two decades, leaving constitutional scholars and Congress members alike wondering whether the founders' political death penalty for presidents has been permanently defanged. Published February 5, 2020
Nancy Pelosi, Democrats’ impeachment obsession backfires on Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Wednesday called his poor showing in Iowa's kick-off caucuses a "gut punch." If so, it's a punch delivered largely by his own party's obsession with impeachment. Published February 5, 2020
Deportation can mean death in El Salvador: Study
Being deported from the U.S. to El Salvador can make illegal immigrants targets for abuse or extortion back home, and dozens of deportees were killed over the past decade, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch that tries to put faces and numbers on the situation. Published February 5, 2020
Sanctuary recidivism rate at 25% in California’s Orange County
California's Orange County is seeing a recidivism rate of more than 25% for undocumented immigrants it has released under the state's sanctuary law, according to new data the sheriff's department released and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement highlighted this week. Published February 5, 2020
