Stephen Dinan

Dems on defense, slam GOP for claims Judge Jackson is soft on crime, child porn

Democrats lashed out at Republicans Wednesday over their probing questions of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying the GOP was trying to tarnish the Supreme Court nominee and Black Harvard-trained woman with "conspiracy theories and culture war theories."

March 23, 2022

Feds say EMS employee used his ambulance to smuggle illegal immigrants

A Texas emergency services employee has been charged with using an ambulance to try to sneak illegal immigrants deeper into the U.S. by trying to claim he was carrying a COVID-19 patient to a hospital.

March 23, 2022

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson pushes back on scrutiny over light sentencing in child porn cases

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson vehemently rejected accusations of leniency toward child pornography offenders, telling senators Tuesday that she was following Congress' instructions when she habitually delivered sentences well below what guidelines suggested.

March 22, 2022

GOP: Democrats hiding Ketanji Brown Jackson’s records on weak child-porn sentencing

Republicans accused Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee of hiding documents from them during the confirmation hearing Tuesday for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson related to her sentencing of felons convicted of child porn crimes.

March 22, 2022

Federal judge rules Biden’s lax deportation policy is illegal

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas broke the law when he wrote new rules limiting which illegal immigrants can be arrested or deported, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, slapping an injunction on ICE that will limit its ability to pick and choose whom to target.

March 22, 2022

Ketanji Brown Jackson says having women on Supreme Court ‘supports public confidence’

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Tuesday it would be "extremely meaningful" for four women to sit on the Supreme Court should she be confirmed.

March 22, 2022

McConnell warns of ‘utter meltdown’ at border if Biden ends pandemic shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Tuesday of an "utter meltdown" at the southern border if the Biden administration ditches the Trump-era COVID policy allowing illegal immigrants to be expelled back to Mexico.

March 22, 2022

Ketanji Brown Jackson refuses to weigh in on court packing

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson refused Tuesday to weigh in on whether there should be more than nine justices on the high court, a move progressive activists have advocated for in recent years.

March 22, 2022

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson cites originalism as judicial philosophy

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday stressed her "limited" role as a federal judge, describing a judicial philosophy that resonated with even some conservative legal observers.

March 22, 2022

Judge Jackson makes early overtures to Republicans during confirmation hearing

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson told senators Monday that she believes the Constitution grants a "limited" role to judges, kicking off her Supreme Court confirmation hearing with an early overture to Republicans who will decide how difficult a path she has to the high court.

March 21, 2022

Documents show FAA ruled border drone ban illegal, then reversed the decision after DHS call

The Federal Aviation Administration had decided it was illegal to ban drones flying over the border in Del Rio, Texas, amid last year's surge of Haitian migrants, but imposed the ban after pleading by a Homeland Security official, according to emails obtained by House GOP investigators.

March 21, 2022

Border Patrol union fears agents getting railroaded in DHS probe of ‘whipping’ Haitian migrants

President Biden was adamant after images of tense confrontations between horse-mounted Border Patrol agents and Haitian migrants emerged in September, vowing that the agents "will pay."

March 19, 2022

Rep. Don Young, most senior member of Congress, dies at 88

Rep. Don Young, dean of the U.S. House of Representatives and one of Congress's more colorful characters, died Friday on his way back home to Alaska, his office announced. He was 88.

March 18, 2022

Inspector general tells ICE to shut down migrant detention facility immediately

A private-operated ICE migrant detention center in Torrance County, New Mexico, is operating on a skeleton staff and conditions are so "egregious" that the migrants should be immediately pulled, an inspector general said in an emergency alert Friday.

March 18, 2022

Border Patrol told it doesn’t have to expel Ukrainians who sneak into U.S.

Ukrainians who show up at the U.S. border without permission to enter can still be allowed in despite a pandemic border shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday.

March 17, 2022

Feds have recovered less than 1% of $163 billion in bogus unemployment benefits

The federal government blew at least $163 billion on bogus pandemic unemployment benefit payments and has recaptured less than $1 billion of it, the program's inspector general told Congress on Thursday.

March 17, 2022

Sheriffs vote ‘No Confidence’ in VP Harris over border chaos

The Western Sheriffs Association delivered a unanimous vote of "No Confidence" in Vice President Kamala Harris' handling of the migration crisis that's slammed the U.S. border, with the sheriffs calling for President Biden to sideline his No. 2.

March 16, 2022

EXCLUSIVE: Secret ICE data shows drop in arrests of criminals, surge in arrests of non-criminals

The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement's deportation division arrested 48% fewer convicted criminals, deported 63% fewer criminals and issued 46% fewer "detainer" requests to other law enforcement agencies last year, according to data that ICE officials have tallied but have yet to release to the public.

March 16, 2022

DHS grants new legal protection to Afghans in U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Wednesday he will grant Temporary Protected Status to many Afghans already in the U.S., giving them a new level of status.

March 16, 2022

Mexicans surged as illegal immigration on border rose in February

The number of migrants caught crossing the southern border illegally rose in February as single adult Mexicans poured into the country at their highest rate in years, according to new Homeland Security data released Tuesday.

March 15, 2022