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Articles by Stephen Dinan

The backlog of applications at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has more than doubled during the 18 months surrounding the election. (The Washington Times/File)

Citizenship application backlog overwhelms agency

First it was the Obama administration, and now Trump administration officials are struggling with a massive influx of people applying for citizenship, overwhelming the agency that approves the applications and sending wait times soaring.

October 12, 2017
In this Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, file photo, destroyed communities are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

House approves $36.5 billion in disaster relief

The House overcame a conservative rebellion Thursday to pass a new round of disaster relief, saying the $36.5 billion is needed to replenish funds that are quickly depleting in the wake of one of the worst hurricane seasons in recent history.

October 12, 2017
President Donald Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Kirstjen Nielsen walks across the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. and then onto Yuma, Ariz. to visit the U.S. border with Mexico and attend a rally in Phoenix with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Donald Trump says DHS pick won’t need ‘on-the-job training’

President Trump introduced his new Homeland Security secretary nominee Thursday, saying former Bush administration official and current deputy White House Chief of Staff Kirstjen Nielsen is the right person to carry out his campaign promises.

October 12, 2017
President Donald Trump shakes hands with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz during a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts with first responders at Luis Muniz Air National Guard Base, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

San Juan mayor accuses Trump of ‘genocide’ after hurricane

The House overcame a conservative rebellion Thursday to pass a new round of disaster relief, saying the $36.5 billion is needed to replenish funds that are quickly depleting in the wake of hurricanes that have battered Texas, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

October 12, 2017
FILE- This Feb. 9, 2017, file photo shows the Canada and United States border crossing near Emerson, Manitoba.  Desperate immigrants are flowing across the U.S. border into Canada. America’s neighbor to the north is increasingly being seen as a haven for asylum seekers turned away by the U.S., and are willing to chance a walk across the border in dangerous cold to get there. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Immigrant smuggling operation broken up along U.S.-Canada border

Federal agents broke up an immigrant smuggling operation on the U.S.-Canada border in Vermont this week, exposing what appears to be a growing option for illegal immigrants desperate to get into the U.S. but worried about getting caught by stiffer security along the southwestern border.

October 11, 2017
D.C. officials expect an increase in the number of people seeking permits to carry after deciding last week not to appeal a federal circuit court ruling striking down the "good reason" requirement that severely limited who was able to obtain a concealed-carry permit. (Associated Press/File)

D.C. gun laws defended, likely to tighten

D.C. officials said Wednesday that they are looking at ways to expand the city's strict gun laws, hoping to recapture some of the ground lost after a federal appeals court struck down the city's restrictions on issuing concealed-carry permits.

October 11, 2017
FILE- In this May 1, 2016, file picture, Eva Lara, second from let, reacts as she reaches for her grandmother Juana Lara through the border wall during a brief visitation near where Mexico and the United States meet at the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. The federal government said Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, that contractors began building eight prototypes of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico, hitting a milestone toward a key campaign pledge. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Donald Trump could personally pick border wall winner

President Trump could have a direct role in picking the winner of the eight border wall prototypes currently being built and tested by Homeland Security, a department spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

October 11, 2017
A U.S. Capitol Police Officer checks a car at a security checkpoint at the U.S. Capitol Building after last week's car chase that ended in a shootout at 1st Street and Constitution Ave. NE in front of the Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C., Monday, October 7, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

D.C. gun laws block concealed-carry legal zones

It's about to become easier for D.C. residents to obtain concealed-carry firearms permits -- but researchers said Washingtonians will still have to face a set of city laws so complex and muddled that it may mean there is hardly any place they can safely carry their weapons.

October 10, 2017
Gustavo Andrade, left, and activists from United We Dream, an immigrant youth-led organization, leave the Senate Hart Office Building after taking their advocacy message to Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democrats promise to derail Congress until Dream Act passes

Leading Hispanic Democrats said Monday they're so disappointed in President Trump's new 70-point immigration enforcement plan that they'll withhold support for must-pass legislation in Congress until lawmakers work out a better deal to protect illegal immigrants.

October 9, 2017
Foreign nationals being arrested this week during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aimed at immigration fugitives, re-entrants and at-large criminal aliens in Los Angeles. The White House submitted a 70-point enforcement plan to Congress Sunday proposing the stiffest reforms ever offered by an administration — including a massive rewrite of the law in order to eliminate loopholes illegal immigrants have exploited to gain a foothold in the U.S.

(Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)

Donald Trump sends 70-point immigration enforcement list to Congress

EXCLUSIVE: Determined to finally solve illegal immigration, the White House submitted a 70-point enforcement plan to Congress Sunday proposing the stiffest reforms ever offered by an administration -- including a massive rewrite of the law in order to eliminate loopholes illegal immigrants have exploited to gain a foothold in the U.S.

October 8, 2017
In this file photo, immigrant-rights supporters gather at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. Frustrated with both President Trump and Congress, activists are increasingly turning to the courts to try to alter the country's immigration policies. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) **FILE**

75% of Dreamers re-applied for DACA program

More than 75 percent of illegal immigrant "Dreamers" who are eligible to renew their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program status under Trump administration's phaseout of the Obama-era deportation amnesty re-applied in time for Thursday's deadline, the government said.

October 5, 2017