Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Paul Ryan urges GOP rebels to reject ‘Dreamer’ push, urges work on bill Donald Trump can sign
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said he's willing to have a debate over illegal immigrant "Dreamers" but said Thursday the key is to find a bill that President Trump will sign -- suggesting none of the efforts being pushed by rebel Republicans and Democrats meets that goal. Published May 10, 2018
Half of all Americans now live in ‘sanctuaries’ protecting immigrants
About half of all Americans now live under sanctuary policies that shield illegal immigrants from law enforcement, according to the latest tally of jurisdictions that the Federation for American Immigration Reform is releasing Thursday. Published May 10, 2018
Manchin backs Haspel for CIA, boosts confirmation prospects
Gina Haspel's path to be the next director of the CIA got easier Wednesday after Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said he'll vote to confirm her. Published May 9, 2018
Trump says he’ll rebuild border wall in California despite Gov. Brown
President Trump said Wednesday he will push ahead with upgrading sections of the border wall in California, apparently reversing his early vow not to do any more wall construction in the state until Congress approved his full border barrier. Published May 9, 2018
GOP rebels launch petition to force vote in House on ‘Dreamers’
A group of House Republican rebels launched an official petition drive Wednesday that would force GOP leaders to hold a vote on bills to legalize illegal immigrant "Dreamers," putting the immigration debate back front-and-center in Congress. Published May 9, 2018
Gina Haspel says she never saw controversial tapes she deleted
Gina Haspel, the nominee to lead the CIA, said Wednesday that she did oversee destruction of 92 controversial tapes showing rough interrogations of suspected terrorists, but said her actions have been reviewed by three investigations and each of them found she acted properly. Published May 9, 2018
Activists sue to keep 350,000 would-be illegal immigrants in U.S.
Immigrant-rights activists said Wednesday they've now sued to stop the Trump administration from canceling special protections for 57,000 Hondurans in the U.S. who would otherwise be illegal immigrants, adding them into an already ongoing lawsuit over some 260,000 others from El Salvador and Haiti. Published May 9, 2018
DOJ ducks chance to defend citizenship question on census
President Trump has bragged about getting a question on citizenship in the 2020 census, so lawmakers on Capitol Hill were surprised Tuesday when a top Justice Department official skipped a hearing where he was supposed to defend the move. Published May 8, 2018
High school students ran drug, illegal immigrant smuggling rings in San Diego
A high school student in San Diego was charged Monday with running a smuggling ring that brought both illegal immigrants and drugs such as methamphetamine and the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border, in the latest indication cartels are tapping youths to help their criminal schemes. Published May 8, 2018
CBO says April was best month in history for U.S. budget
The federal government took in a record tax haul in April en route to its biggest-ever monthly budget surplus, the Congressional Budget Office said, as a surging economy left Americans with more money in their paychecks -- and this more to pay to Uncle Sam. Published May 7, 2018
‘Rescission’ package: Donald Trump to demand Congress cut $15 billion in spending
President Trump will propose a massive $15 billion spending cuts package to Congress on Tuesday, two months after the White House was stung by criticism from conservatives furious at the $300 billion funding hike Mr. Trump signed into law. Published May 7, 2018
DHS to push for criminal charges against all border jumpers
The Trump administration said Monday it will now pursue criminal charges against every migrant nabbed jumping the U.S.-Mexico border, putting serious teeth behind President Trump's goal of stiffening immigration enforcement. Published May 7, 2018
DHS cancels special TPS protections for Honduran migrants
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday she will phase out special legal protections for 57,000 Hondurans who've been in the U.S. for nearly two decades, giving them 18 months to finish up their affairs and return home or else risk being deported. Published May 4, 2018
Trump: Vote out Democrats who back sanctuary cities
President Trump signaled Friday that he's going to drive the immigration issue straight into November's elections, telling voters to oust Democrats who voted to protect sanctuary cities and voted against stiffer penalties for repeat illegal immigrants. Published May 4, 2018
Caravan migrants say Donald Trump is discriminating against them
Migrants who came to the U.S. as part of the illegal immigrant caravan accused President Trump of discrimination this week, saying he ordered his Justice Department to prosecute people from Central America who jumped the border, while ignoring people from other countries such as India. Published May 4, 2018
Paul Ryan allows Patrick Conroy to remain House chaplain
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Thursday he will allow the the chamber's chaplain to serve out the rest of this Congress, backing down from his demand last month that the Rev. Patrick Conroy resign. Published May 3, 2018
Illegal immigration up 233 percent in April on southwest border
Illegal immigration along U.S.-Mexico border surged 230 percent in April compared to last year, according to new numbers released Thursday that experts said expose major loopholes in American immigration law. Published May 3, 2018
Rudy Giuliani says Donald Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for Stormy Daniels payment
Trump adviser Rudolph W. Giuliani said Wednesday that President Trump repaid $130,000 to personal lawyer Michael Cohen to cover the money Mr. Cohen paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Published May 2, 2018
DOJ sends 35 lawyers, 18 judges to border to stop illegal immigrant caravan
Attorney General Jeff Sessions deployed dozens of new prosecutors and 18 more immigration judges down to the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday to handle the illegal immigrant caravan and to try to head off another summertime surge of border jumpers. Published May 2, 2018
Texas demands quick halt to DACA
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday he wants a federal court to rule the Obama-era DACA program illegal before the end of July, hoping to nail the door shut on the controversial program before any other judges can meddle with it. Published May 2, 2018
