Stephen Dinan

DHS issues memo to cancel ‘Remain in Mexico’ border policy

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a new memo Friday seeking to cancel the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" border policy that helped solve the previous migrant surge.

October 29, 2021

Coffin caper: Illegal immigrants smuggled in a flag-draped casket

A smuggler tried to sneak two immigrants past a Border Patrol checkpoint illegally earlier this week by stuffing them into a flag-draped casket and telling agents he was carrying the body of a Navy sailor.

October 29, 2021

GOP vows to fight Biden plan to pay $450,000 to separated illegal immigrant families

Republicans moved Thursday to block a reported plan by the Biden administration to make $450,000 payments to illegal immigrants who were part of family separations during the Trump administration's zero-tolerance border policy.

October 28, 2021

Biden’s team sends mixed messages to migrant caravan

Migrants trekking across Mexico as part of the new caravan headed toward the U.S. could be forgiven for confusion over what the Biden administration is telling them.

October 28, 2021

Biden administration expands no-go zones where ICE can’t arrest illegal immigrants

Homeland Security has expanded its list of locations off-limits for enforcement to include anywhere near graveyards, community organization offices and any area where children "gather" -- effectively blocking officers from making arrests across many urban areas.

October 27, 2021

‘It depends on why they are coming’: AG Garland says some illegal immigrants can come

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday that some migrants in the new mass caravan headed north should come to the U.S. if they plan to demand asylum.

October 27, 2021

Activists complain of COVID-19 spread from illegal immigrants pushed back across border

Immigrant-rights activists said the U.S. is spreading COVID-19 south of the border by immediately expelling illegal immigrants back to Mexico, saying the way they are handled means one infected migrant can expose dozens of others.

October 27, 2021

439 Americans are still in Afghanistan, Pentagon official tells Congress

There are at least 439 American citizens still in Afghanistan, a senior Pentagon official told Congress on Tuesday, upping the number from what the administration told lawmakers just last week.

October 26, 2021

Feds uncover ‘expansive’ use of illegal immigrants in South Carolina construction

Federal prosecutors have won guilty pleas from a dozen people involved in South Carolina's construction industry who hired illegal immigrants and paid them using unlicensed check cashers in order to shield the payments from the IRS.

October 26, 2021

Hagerty challenges Sanders to oppose ‘unlimited green card’ giveaway in budget bill

Sen. Bill Hagerty has challenged Sen. Bernard Sanders to live up to his claims of championing American workers by opposing budget plans to grant "unlimited" green cards for immigrant workers at Big Tech companies like Facebook and Google.

October 25, 2021

‘Worse than it has ever been’: Biden’s border wall gaps heighten dangers, scare off feds

President Biden's decision to halt border wall construction has left parts of Arizona so dangerous that the U.S. Forest Service has banned its employees from going there, according to a border rancher who grazes cattle on those lands.

October 25, 2021

DHS gave leniency to agents who made offensive Facebook posts

The Trump administration took steps to lessen punishment for Border Patrol agents who made offensive posts as part of a secret Facebook page, including canceling the firings of several employees who insulted members of Congress, according to results of a House investigation released Monday.

October 25, 2021

Biden migrant surge sets all-time record for most arrests at southern border

The Border Patrol set its all-time annual record for arrests along the southern border in fiscal 2021, according to new data that puts a grim exclamation point on President Biden's stewardship of the boundary.

October 22, 2021

192,001 migrants caught in September; border notches one of worst years on record

Homeland Security reported another 192,001 encounters with illegal immigrants on the southwestern border in September, topping off one of the worst fiscal years on record.

October 22, 2021

Feds spent record $6.8 trillion in fiscal 2021, deficit was $2.8 trillion

The federal government spend a staggering $6.8 trillion in fiscal year 2021 and borrowed about 40 cents on every $1, the Treasury Department announced Friday.

October 22, 2021

Biden admin. doubles estimate of Americans left behind in Afghanistan

Nearly 200 Americans left behind in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan following the August U.S. military withdrawal may still be trying to get out, the State Department said Friday, doubling its previous public count.

October 22, 2021

Lawsuit challenges hundreds of Fairfax County absentee ballot requests

Fairfax County insists it is following state election laws properly, denying the thrust of a new lawsuit this week that argued election officials have accepted hundreds of absentee and mail ballot requests that lacked the required last four digits of an applicant's Social Security number.

October 22, 2021

Illegal immigrants exempt from DOJ’s vaccine mandate at deportation hearings

The federal vaccine mandate will soon apply to Justice Department employees, contractors and visitors to its buildings. But one group it won't apply to is illegal immigrants showing up for their deportation case hearings.

October 20, 2021

Citizenship or else: Activists warn Dems over amnesty for illegal immigrants

As Democrats reach to finalize President Biden's budget, immigration activists are warning they will not be left behind, demanding that a clear pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants be part of the bill.

October 20, 2021

Republican congressman indicted on charges of lying to the FBI

Federal prosecutors announced an indictment Tuesday against Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, accusing the Republican congressman of lying to investigators probing a foreign contribution to his 2016 campaign.

October 19, 2021