Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Hispanic activists’ anti-Donald Trump efforts fall flat as citizenship push sputters
Immigrant-rights advocates had vowed to make 2016 the year of the anti-Donald Trump citizenship surge, hoping to sign up a million new immigrants eager to send a message rejeting the GOP's presidential candidate -- but so far they're falling short, with naturalization rates only slightly higher than four years ago. Published June 8, 2016
IRS computer hack was worse than agency admitted
The IRS's computer hack was worse than previously admitted, and the tax agency failed to alert thousands of people that their information was stolen, and didn't give credit monitoring assistance to nearly 80,000 others who were targeted, an inspector general said Wednesday. Published June 8, 2016
Illegal immigrants kidnapping children to sneak into U.S. as ‘family units,’ feds say
Illegal immigrants are kidnapping children and bringing them across the border, hoping to appear to be families so they can take advantage of lax enforcement policies, the Obama administration told a federal appeals court. Published June 7, 2016
Judge blocks his own order sending Obama lawyers to ethics class
Justice Department lawyers and illegal immigrants won a temporary reprieve this week after Judge Andrew S. Hanen blocked his own order sending the lawyers back to remedial ethics classes, and ordering the government to turn over information on tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who were erroneously granted a three-year deportation amnesty. Published June 7, 2016
Donald Trump says his judge attack is ‘misconstrued’
Donald Trump said Tuesday that his attack on a federal judge is being "misconstrued," insisting it's not an attack on all Mexicans, as he sought to tamp down on the first major crisis of his post-primary campaign. Published June 7, 2016
Donald Trump endorses Renee Ellmers in North Carolina, shocking his supporters
Donald Trump's endorsement of Rep. Renee Ellmers in North Carolina sent shock waves through the likely GOP presidential nominee's supporters over the weekend, stoking new fears about his political reliability after the first person he backed has a record diametrically opposed to him on immigration. Published June 6, 2016
Visa waiver program countries aren’t sharing travelers’ criminal, terrorism records with U.S.
A third of the countries whose citizens can travel to the U.S. without a visa aren't sharing critical terrorism or criminal record data with American authorities, creating a major security risk, the government's chief watchdog said Monday. Published June 6, 2016
IRS: White House never asked for secret information on taxpayers
The White House never requested any secret taxpayer information from the IRS, the tax agency said in a sworn statement filed with a federal court on Friday, hoping to put to rest lingering questions about whether political operatives tried to peek at confidential records. Published June 3, 2016
Smuggling network guided illegal immigrants from Middle East terrorist hotbeds to U.S. border
A smuggling network has managed to sneak illegal immigrants from Middle Eastern terrorism hotbeds straight to the doorstep of the U.S., including helping one Afghan who authorities say was part of an attack plot in North America. Published June 2, 2016
Obama consumer board to issue new payday loan regulations that could sink lenders
The Obama administration's consumer board will propose new restrictions on payday lenders Thursday, hoping to stop poor customers from ending up in a "debt trap" -- and potentially chasing most of the lenders out of business. Published June 2, 2016
Hillary Clinton’s chief email defense is false
Hillary Clinton's chief defense of her email behavior is that she tried to forward her messages so they were captured by the State Department -- but a Washington Times analysis found she clearly did that only a quarter of the time when she was corresponding with someone outside the department. Published June 1, 2016
Immigration figures highest since Clinton; new arrivals less likely from Mexico
Both legal and illegal immigration spiked over the past two years, with the total number of arrivals in that period topping 3 million for the first time since the end of the Clinton administration, according to figures from an immigration think tank released Wednesday. Published June 1, 2016
Judge Andrew Hanen scaring illegals away from Obama’s amnesty, administration says
The Obama administration accused a federal judge Tuesday of sowing "fear and confusion" among illegal immigrants, potentially scaring them away from signing up for President Obama's deportation amnesty by demanding immigration officials submit names of tens of thousands of migrants who've already enrolled. Published May 31, 2016
Cheryl Mills blames Clinton email bungle on Benghazi terrorist attack
Cheryl Mills, the former chief of staff at the State Department, partly blamed the Benghazi terrorist attack for former Secretary Hillary Clinton failing to turn over her emails as she left office in 2013, saying there was "a lot going on" that distracted them from fulfilling their obligations under open-records laws. Published May 31, 2016
Catfish inspection program costing taxpayers millions, tough to kill
The way Congress' chief watchdog describes it, the government's plan to set up a new catfish inspection process is one of the clearest examples of wasteful spending in the federal budget. Published May 30, 2016
Syrians, Palestinians buy bogus Honduras identities to sneak into U.S.: Report
Syrians and Palestinians managed to buy illegal citizenship documents from Honduras then tried to use them to enter the U.S., a Honduran newspaper reported over the weekend, exposing a scheme that analysts say could post a danger to the U.S. visa system. Published May 27, 2016
NSA phone-snooping metadata still in government hands
The National Security Agency's phone-snooping program ended six months ago this Saturday, but the government is still holding on to the mountain of data it piled up over the previous five years, worrying civil liberties advocates who say it's time to start expunging the legally questionable information. Published May 26, 2016
Hillary Clinton emails: Judge orders video of Cheryl Mills’ testimony sealed
A federal judge on Thursday ordered that the videotape of Hillary Clinton's former chief of staff giving a deposition this week be sealed so it can't be used in political attacks against the former secretary of state and likely Democratic presidential nominee. Published May 26, 2016
Marco Rubio colleagues urge him to run for re-election to Senate
Sen. Marco Rubio's GOP colleagues are asking him to run for re-election, saying he should cancel his retirement plans and ensure his Florida seat remains under Republican control. Published May 26, 2016
DHS admits it’s still violating judge’s order on immigration amnesty
Homeland Security has discovered more three-year amnesty applications it approved in defiance of a federal judge's firm injunction, lawyers told the court late Wednesday -- less than a week after the judge delivered a vicious spanking to the administration for repeatedly bungling the case. Published May 26, 2016
