Stephen Dinan

Texas anti-ballot harvesting rules revived by appeals court

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said Texas' law limiting ballot harvesting can remain in effect during this year's election after a lower court put it on hold.

October 15, 2024

Harris asks border sheriffs how to ‘do better’ than Biden on immigration policy

Vice President Kamala Harris' team has sought advice from a top border sheriff on how to "do better" on immigration policy.

October 14, 2024

Biden administration sues Virginia over attempt to remove noncitizens from voter rolls

The Biden administration sued Virginia on Friday over the state's effort to remove noncitizens from its voting lists, arguing the move violated a federal law that bars changes to the rolls so close to an election.

October 11, 2024

Feds struggle to explain how Afghan terror suspect got into U.S. to plan Election Day shootings

When the FBI arrested Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi this week, it was coy in explaining why the Afghan man, now accused of plotting to martyr himself in an Election Day mass shooting, was free in the U.S. in the first place.

October 10, 2024

Justice Department asks court to keep DACA in place for illegal immigrant ‘Dreamers’

The Biden administration and immigration activists asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to preserve as much of the Obama-era DACA program as possible, saying whatever its legal questions, the program has been around too long to just cancel it altogether.

October 10, 2024

Social Security benefits to rise 2.5% as inflation ticks down

Social Security recipients will see an average of $50 more in their monthly checks next year as the government adjusts for inflation.

October 10, 2024

Ex-ICE contractor concocted complex scheme to smuggle 39 illegal immigrants, feds say

A woman who had worked as a contractor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used her ICE credentials to try to smuggle more than three dozen illegal immigrants deeper into Texas.

October 9, 2024

No Oct. 7 remembrance, but Justice Department does celebrate Palestinian ‘resilience’

The Justice Department has irked employees who say it failed to hold any public commemoration of the one-year mark of Hamas' terror attack on Israel -- but found time a day later to sponsor an event celebrating Palestinian-Americans' "resilience."

October 8, 2024

Afghan evacuee arrested on charge of plotting Election Day attack in U.S.

An Afghan man who came to the U.S. as part of President Biden's chaotic 2021 troop withdrawal now stands accused of an ISIS-fueled plot to launch a suicide attack on Election Day next month.

October 8, 2024

Supreme Court casts skeptical eye toward unregulated ‘ghost’ guns

The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared sympathetic to the Biden administration's attempt to regulate "ghost" guns, whose kits and disassembled parts allow users to cobble together fully functional firearms.

October 8, 2024

Texas seeks citizenship data from federal government on 450,000 voters

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Homeland Security Department on Monday to verify the citizenship status of more than 450,000 names on the state's voter rolls, saying that while the vast majority are likely eligible to vote, he wants to weed out those who aren't.

October 7, 2024

Supreme Court rejects Biden administration appeal over emergency abortions

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Biden administration's attempt to carve out emergency exceptions to Texas' strict abortion law.

October 7, 2024

How easy is it to make a ghost gun? Supreme Court faces next big firearms case

On Tuesday, Supreme Court justices grapple with the Biden administration's attempt to crack down on ghost guns.

October 6, 2024

Homeland Security says it won’t renew ‘parole’ for Venezuelans

Homeland Security confirmed that it will not offer a new period of "parole" to tens of thousands of Venezuelans who came to the country without authorization starting in 2022 -- but said they may still qualify for other legal protections.

October 4, 2024

Deepfakes 1, Gavin Newsom 0: Court blocks California’s anti-satire law as unconstitutional

The war over deepfakes and campaigns is heating up, and the fakers just won an early victory after a federal judge ruled against California's wide-ranging law that tried to ban manipulated materials about politicians in the months ahead of an election.

October 3, 2024

Feds accuse five IRS employees of COVID fraud

The Justice Department announced fraud charges Tuesday against five current or former IRS employees in Tennessee whom prosecutors say stole money from the government's pandemic relief programs.

October 3, 2024

Federal judge blocks California’s deepfake anti-satire campaign law

A federal judge has halted California's new law targeting deepfake satire and parody videos, saying it likely tramples on the First Amendment.

October 3, 2024

DHS released hundreds of thousands of migrants who lacked ID, allowed some to board planes

Homeland Security is releasing hundreds of thousands of migrants who haven't been able to prove their identities to authorities, the department's inspector general said Wednesday.

October 2, 2024

Court revives betting on election outcomes

A federal appeals court has once again opened the door to large-scale wagering on the outcome of U.S. elections after the judges on Wednesday rejected the government's claims that betting could undercut voting and taint the results.

October 2, 2024

Vance blames illegal immigration for rising housing costs

Sen. J.D. Vance said Tuesday that illegal immigrants are competing with Americans for housing and contributing to the soaring prices that have chased many people out of the dream of home ownership.

October 1, 2024