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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Stephen Dinan

This December 2015, file photo shows U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu. Watson on Thursday, July 13, 2017, expanded the list of family relationships needed by people seeking new visas from six mostly Muslim countries to avoid President Donald Trump's travel ban. Watson ordered the government not to enforce the ban on grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins of people in the United States. (George Lee /The Star-Advertiser via AP, File)

Judge in Hawaii carves new hole in Donald Trump’s travel ban

A federal judge took another swing at President Trump's travel ban late Thursday, ruling that the administration must expand the definition of family who are exempted from his policy -- and also dramatically expanding the number of refugees who can be admitted. Published July 14, 2017

In this Oct 7, 2013, file photo, attorney Eric Conn gestures as he invokes his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Conn, a fugitive Kentucky lawyer at the center of a nearly $600 million Social Security fraud case, has fled the country using a fake passport and has gotten help from someone overseas with a job to help support himself, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Sunday, June 25, 2017. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

Eric Conn fraud whistle-blowers say they fear for their safety

Eric C. Conn, the convicted ringleader of the biggest Social Security disability fraud in history, was supposed to be sentenced Friday. Instead, he's on the run, and the two whistleblowers who helped expose his scam say they fear for their safety. Published July 13, 2017

This image provided by Gleason Partners LLC shows a rendering of the side of a border wall concept that faces the U.S. that incorporates solar panels into the design. President Donald Trump wants to add solar panels to his long-promised southern border wall — a plan he says would help pay for the wall's construction and add to its aesthetic appeal. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump: Border needs 700-900 miles of wall

President Trump put the first concrete number on the miles of border he wants to fence off, saying "anywhere from 700 to 900 miles" need his border wall -- and he said he wasn't joking when he suggested erecting solar panels to help pay for constructions. Published July 13, 2017

US President Donald Trump waves as he arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, July 13, 2017. Trump will be the parade's guest of honor to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I. U.S. troops will open the parade Friday as is traditional for the guest of honor. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Donald Trump’s budget cuts deficits, but never reaches balance: CBO

President Trump's budget doesn't solve the deficit, though it makes a significant dent, the Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Thursday, saying that his deep spending cuts on everything from health care to education would save an additional $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years. Published July 13, 2017

In this June 5, 2014, file photo, a Border Patrol agent uses a headset and computer to conduct a long-distance interview by video from a facility in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

U.S. citizen sues over listing on terrorist watch list

An American Muslim family detained for more than 10 hours at the border because the father appeared on a terrorism watch list sued the government Thursday, saying the use of watch lists has spiraled out of control and federal agents are now using them to "abuse" the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens. Published July 13, 2017

Kelly

John F. Kelly doubts Dreamer amnesty will survive courts

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly told members of Congress on Wednesday that he doubts the 2012 deportation amnesty for so-called Dreamers could survive legal scrutiny, leaving key Democrats warning of potential "mass deportations." Published July 12, 2017

A guard walks past the U.S. Capitol in the morning in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013. (Associated Press/File)

Legislative Activity Index: House speed overcomes lagging Senate

Big-ticket items like an Obamacare repeal or tax reform may elude them, but lawmakers are still off to a fast start to the current Congress, according to The Washington Times Legislative Activity index, which shows a newly unified government in Washington passing bills at a clip not seen since the early days of the Obama administration. Published July 12, 2017

This Thursday June 15, 2017, photo provided by No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, an organization that provides care for migrants along the Mexican border, shows Border Patrol agents detaining an unidentified person in the Arizona desert. Border Patrol agents descended on the medical camp set up in the Arizona desert near the border to provide refuge and water for migrants in the scorching summer heat, arresting four men who were receiving aid after spending several days in the desert. (No More Deaths/No Más Muertes via AP)

Activists sue DHS to force more asylum claims

Immigrant-rights groups sued the Homeland Security Department on Wednesday, claiming border officers are illegally stymieing desperate migrants' attempts to seek asylum in the U.S. Published July 12, 2017

President Trump wants $1.6 billion to build 60 miles of new barriers, 500 more Border Patrol agents, 1,000 more agents and officers to handle deportations from the interior of the U.S. and enough money to maintain an average of 44,000 detention beds to hold illegal immigrants. (Associated Press)

Republicans set up border wall fight in House with homeland security bill

Republican House leaders on Tuesday earmarked $1.6 billion to begin building President Trump's border wall next year, including the money in their homeland security spending bill, setting up a fight with Democrats who have vowed to fight any funding for the wall, even if it means sending the federal government into a partial shutdown. Published July 11, 2017

A family looks towards metal bars marking the U.S. border where it meets the Pacific Ocean in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 2, 2016. (Associated Press) **FILE**

House GOP allocates $1.6 billion for Trump border wall in 2018

House Republicans said Tuesday they've included $1.6 billion in funding for President Trump's border wall in their new homeland security spending bill, setting up fight with Democrats who have vowed to block any wall funding -- even if it means sending the government into a partial shutdown. Published July 11, 2017

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2016 file photo, a laptop is seen in Las Vegas. The Homeland Security Department is set to announce new security measures Wednesday for international flights bound to the United States, which could lead to a lifting of a ban on laptops and other electronics from passenger cabins from certain airports. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Six foreign airports earn their way off DHS’s laptop ban

Six of the 10 airports that faced the laptop ban have already improved their screening enough to earn their way off the ban list, Homeland Security announced Tuesday, as it tries to raise the global level of explosives screening. Published July 11, 2017

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has put a "hold" on Lee Francis Cissna, the nominee for director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to try to pressure Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to bend to the senator's will and quickly approve thousands of H-2B visas. (Associated Press/File)

Thom Tillis puts hold on nomination over H-2B visas

The White House complained Monday about Democratic obstruction of President Trump's nominees, but a Republican senator is the chief roadblock for Mr. Trump's pick to head the legal immigration service, hoping to use the position as leverage to force the administration to approve more foreign guest-workers this year. Published July 10, 2017

FILE - In this June 13, 2013, file photo, hands from Daniel Zambrano of Tijuana, Mexico, hold on to the bars that make up the border wall separating the U.S. and Mexico as the border meets the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. The state legislature is debating more than a dozen bills, sponsored by Democrats, to resist President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, particularly his promises to increase deportations and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Illegal immigration spikes along U.S.-Mexico border

Illegal immigration across the southwest border rose yet again in June, according to the latest Homeland Security figures released Friday that show a noticeable jump over the past two months. Published July 7, 2017