Stephen Dinan

John Kelly Homeland Security Secretary issues waiver to let green card holders avoid travel ban

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly issued a blanket waiver Sunday allowing immigrants holding green cards, or entitled to permanent residence in the U.S., to enter the country, despite President Trump's new executive order.

January 29, 2017

Trump says extreme vetting pause is same as Obama’s 2011 Iraq policy

President Trump defended his new extreme vetting policy Sunday in the face of severe pushback from judges, members of Congress and the press, saying President Obama did much the same thing when he put a pause on Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011.

January 29, 2017

White House says ‘extreme vetting’ order remains in place despite judge’s ruling

Despite confusion at airports and a judicial spanking, the White House said Sunday that President Trump's "extreme vetting" executive order remains in effect and is working as the administration had hoped, halting almost all travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries with histories of terrorism.

January 29, 2017

White House says U.S. still most open immigration system even after Trump orders

The U.S. will still be the most open country in the world for foreign visitors even after President Trump's new executive order hitting pause on the refugee program and the Visa Waiver program and suspending visits from a half-dozen war-torn countries, administration officials insisted Saturday.

January 28, 2017

First lawsuit filed to challenge Trump’s refugee policy

Civil liberties groups filed the first lawsuit Saturday morning challenging President Trump's pause on migration from countries troubled by terrorism, saying the halt has already snared two Iraqis who'd already been approved to come to the U.S., and who fear for their lives back home.

January 28, 2017

Trump hits pause button on refugees, puts immigration from terror regions on hold

President Trump imposed a pause Friday on the U.S. refugee program, suspended the visa waiver program and halted all arrivals from some countries with a history of terrorism, in a broad executive order fulfilling one of his more controversial campaign pledges.

January 27, 2017

California to give lawyers to illegal immigrant students to stop deportations

The University of California will provide lawyers to any of its illegal immigrant students who get detained by agents, system President Janet Napolitano said Friday.

January 27, 2017

Donald Trump’s border wall hits budget woes

The bean counters are registering their own disapproval of President Trump's border wall, saying the cost alone makes it a bad idea.

January 27, 2017

Charles Schumer to vote against Rex Tillerson for State Dept. job

The Senate's top Democrat said Friday that he'll vote against President Trump's secretary of state pick, accusing former oil company chief Rex Tillerson of refusing to denounce Mr. Trump's policies and trying to mislead senators.

January 27, 2017

Donald Trump plan for wall on border sinks talks with Mexico

Relations between the U.S. and Mexico crumpled Thursday after President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled his visit to Washington next week, protesting President Trump's executive order to American officials to begin building his border wall.

January 26, 2017

Miami-Dade ends sanctuary city policy, bowing to Donald Trump’s order

The mayor of Miami-Dade ended the county's sanctuary city policy Thursday, just a day after President Trump threatened to pull federal funds from jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with immigration agents.

January 26, 2017

Donald Trump eyes tax on Mexican imports to pay for wall

President Trump is considering a plan to tax imports from Mexico and using the money to build his promised border wall, the White House said Thursday.

January 26, 2017

Duncan Hunter tells governor to nix illegal immigrants instead of cutting middle class scholarships

Before California strips middle class families of assistance for college tuition, it should first cancel tuition benefits it pays out to illegal immigrants who attend the state's public universities, a key congressman said Wednesday.

January 26, 2017

Mark Morgan, U.S. Border Patrol chief, ousted from job

Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan will be leaving job, the agency announced Thursday, after just seven months on the job.

January 26, 2017

Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexican president, cancels meeting with Trump after immigration orders

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Thursday that he's canceled his planned visit to see President Trump next week, retaliating for the strict new executive orders issued a day earlier.

January 26, 2017

Donald Trump hits back at Mexico’s Nieto: Cancel our meeting if you won’t pay for the wall

President Trump said Thursday that it may be for the best if Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto cancels his planned visit here next week, unless he's willing to pony up money for the border wall.

January 26, 2017

Donald Trump creates name-and-shame list to embarrass sanctuary cities

President Trump on Wednesday ordered the Homeland Security Department to begin releasing a name-and-shame list of sanctuary cities, listing the specific crimes such as murder or robbery committed by those who have been released back into their communities under the sanctuary policies.

January 26, 2017

Watchdog sees need for election fraud probe

More than 140 jurisdictions across the country have more people registered to vote than their entire voting-age populations, according to a watchdog group that says there is reason to have the kind of investigation into voter fraud that President Trump called for Wednesday.

January 25, 2017

Donald Trump eviscerates Obama’s immigration policy in two executive orders

With a couple strokes of his pen, President Trump wiped out almost all of President Obama's immigration policies Wednesday, laying the groundwork for his own border wall, unleashing immigration agents to enforce the law and punishing sanctuary cities who try to thwart his deportation surge.

January 25, 2017

U.S. now rated as ‘flawed democracy’ by British analysts

The U.S. has been downgraded to a "flawed democracy" in the latest world rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which says while President Trump's election didn't cause the slide, it was a symptom.

January 25, 2017