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Articles by Stephen Dinan

Senior Circuit Judge Michael Daly Hawkins is one of three judges appointed by President Clinton who is hearing the Trump administration's appeal of Hawaii's so-far successful challenge to the president's travel ban that targets six predominantly Muslim countries. (Associated Press/File)

Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ campaign remarks in legal question

The administration asked a federal appeals court Monday to look beyond President Trump's campaign statements about Muslims and defer to his judgments as president, hoping to revive his executive order on refugees and travelers from six majority-Muslim countries.

May 8, 2017
Protestors chant in Terminal B at the Newark International Airport prior to addressing the media, in Newark, NJ., Thursday March 16, 2017. A diverse group of advocates and immigrant New Jerseyans gathered to condemn Trump's updated travel ban. (Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Advance Media via AP)

Judges struggle with ‘taint’ from Trump’s Muslim ban comments

Federal appeals court judges questioned President Trump's motives in signing his extreme vetting executive orders in oral argument Monday, wondering whether his own words suggesting he was singling out certain religions for special treatment have poisoned the entire exercise.

May 8, 2017
In this Aug. 9, 2012, file photo, people are detained for being in the country illegally and are transferred out of the holding area after being processed at the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. The number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally has changed little since the Great Recession began, dropping to 11.1 million in 2014 from 11.2 million in 2012 and 11.3 million in 2009, according to a study released Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, by the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Human Rights Watch: Immigrant detainees’ deaths preventable

More than a third of the immigrants who died while being held in U.S. detention were given substandard health care, contributing to their deaths, human rights groups charged in a new report being released Monday that demands major changes in the detention system.

May 8, 2017

Texas governor signs ban on so-called ‘sanctuary cities’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday signed a law targeting so-called "sanctuary cities" that allows police to ask about a person's immigration status and threatens sheriffs with jail if they don't cooperate with federal authorities.

May 7, 2017
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talks to reporters outside the White House in Washington in this March 24, 2017, file photo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Greg Abbott signs Texas anti-‘sanctuary city’ law

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the country's toughest anti-sanctuary city law Sunday, moving not only to fine jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents but even threatening jail time for the sheriffs or police chiefs who refuse to cooperate.

May 7, 2017
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stood his ground against Republicans during a budget battle in October 2013. (Associated Press/File)

Republicans face more ‘shutdown traps’ into Democrat spending

Stung by yet another "shutdown trap" that forced them to accede to nearly every Democratic demand in the $1 trillion spending bill, Republicans are scrambling to find a way out of their predicament before even bigger deadlines come due just months from now.

May 7, 2017
Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, said he was enticed to support the Obamacare repeal bill with an additional $8 billion for health care risk pools. (Associated Press)

Talks, incentives swing Republican votes

Rep. Robert J. Wittman was adamant back in March: The Republican health care bill didn't protect Medicare and Medicaid, cut health care costs or empower individuals enough to earn his vote.

May 4, 2017
In this Tuesday, May 2, 2017, photo, a Customs and Border Protection helicopter flies at a low altitude over the U.S.-Mexico border fence near the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas. (Jason Hoekema/The Brownsville Herald via AP)

Illegal border-crossers seek sympathetic agents at U.S. entry points

Some American border officers are turning away migrants with compelling asylum cases, pushing families to bounce from one border crossing to the next looking for a willing officer to let them make their claims for protection, a leading advocacy group charged in a new report Wednesday.

May 3, 2017
"This marks the beginning of a new era. No longer will the needs of our military be held hostage," said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, said about the bipartisan spending bill. (Associated Press)

House approves spending bill, rejects Trump budget cuts

Republicans and Democrats have flatly rejected most of President Trump's 2017 budget cuts, instead linking arms Wednesday to vote for a $1 trillion spending package that spreads even more money across the vast federal bureaucracy.

May 3, 2017
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. arrives for the Republican Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Paul Ryan defends spending deal as pro-GOP ‘game-changer’

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan delivered a fierce defense of Republicans' spending bill Tuesday, saying that it marks a major increase in defense spending, calling it "a game-changer," and saying that outweighs the other fights the GOP retreated on.

May 2, 2017