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The Anti-Weaponization Fund: Trump’s $1.776 billion plan may be down — but is it out?

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Articles by Stephen Dinan

FILE - In this June 25, 2014 photo shows a group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are stopped in Granjeno, Texas. The influx at the border is largely families with children or by minors traveling alone. From October 2012 through the end of September 2013, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended about 24,000 unaccompanied children. But between October and the end of June 2014, the number shot up to 57,000. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testified recently that the number is accelerating so fast that it could reach 90,000 by the end of September. Most of them are coming from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Jeh Johnson: U.S. could face new surge of illegals

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned Wednesday that the country could face another spike in illegal immigration as the U.S. economy picks up and as seasonal patterns change, though he said they have made major progress in combatting the surge of illegal immigrant children that wrong-footed his department earlier this year.

November 19, 2014
"This is the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind our backs," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOP's leader, who pointed to the advance of Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria. "The threat from ISIL is real. It's different from what we've faced before. And if we're going to overcome it — if our aim is to degrade and destroy ISIL, as the president has said — then that's going to require smart policies and firm determination." (Associated Press)

NSA phone snooping upheld by Senate Republicans’ filibuster

Senate Republicans rose to the defense of the National Security Agency on Tuesday by filibustering a bill that would have halted the agency's phone-snooping program, saying it is now more critical than ever amid advancing terrorism in the Middle East and fears of homegrown terrorism in the U.S.

November 18, 2014
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has complained that House Republicans have not passed a broad immigration bill approved in his chamber, but he has not sent it to the other side of the Capitol. (Associated Press)

Harry Reid urges Obama to act now on immigration

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he has President Obama's back when the White House announces its immigration plans to grant temporary amnesty to illegal immigrants, and defended his own party's lack of action when it had total control of Congress and the White House in 2009 and 2010.

November 18, 2014
FILE- In this Sept. 10, 2014 file photo, a woman and child are escorted to a van by detention facility guards inside the Artesia Family Residential Center, a federal detention facility for undocumented immigrant mothers and children in Artesia, New Mexico. The facility is now releasing more detainees rather than deporting them, according to Artesia Mayor Phillip Burch. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca, File)

Artesia mayor: 95 percent of families of illegals being released

Almost all of the illegal immigrant families traveling from Central America to the U.S. are being released from the special facility meant to hold them in New Mexico, according to the mayor of the town where the special facility is located.

November 18, 2014
The Senate will vote Tuesday on a bill by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, known as the USA Freedom Act. It is designed to make sure the Patriot Act can no longer be used to justify collecting the phone records. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Obama backs bill to end to NSA snooping

The Obama administration "strongly" backs legislation to halt its NSA snooping program, the White House budget office said in a policy statement Monday, a day ahead of a first showdown Senate vote.

November 17, 2014
Detainees sleep in a holding cell at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility in Brownsville, Texas. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Obama opens door for Central American children to legally come to U.S.

The Obama administration quietly announced a program late last week to create a legal channel for thousands of Central American children to come to the U.S., a move designed to prevent a repeat of this summer's illegal immigrant surge but which Republicans said amounted to "border sabotage."

November 16, 2014
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, shakes hands with Republican congressional candidate Chris Stewart during the Utah State GOP election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Salt Lake City. Stewart is seeking a second term in the 2nd Congressional District. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Fake disability claims cost taypayers billions

Social Security paid out $2 billion in bogus disability claims approved by 44 administrative law judges over the last seven years, the agency's internal auditor said in a report Friday that details some of the problems with fraud in the troubled disability program.

November 16, 2014
President Barack Obama arrives at the TransCanada Stillwater Pipe Yard in Cushing, Okla., on March 22, 2012. (Associated Press)

House approves Keystone pipeline, setting up final Senate showdown

House lawmakers, in their first major vote since last week's elections, easily passed a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring crude oil from Canada to the U.S., sending the bill over to the Senate which will have a major showdown Tuesday.

November 14, 2014
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, after Senate Republicans voted on leadership positions for the 114th Congress. From left are, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., McConnell and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Mitch McConnell rules out govt. shutdown to block Obama immigration moves

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Thursday that Republicans could use a spending bill to block President Obama's planned executive action to grant work permits to illegal immigrants, but his Senate counterpart ruled out a government shutdown over it, canceling the one major piece of leverage the GOP has in the fight.

November 13, 2014
Legal immigrants, "unable to support themselves and their children" are responsible for nearly half of the new Medicaid enrollments from 2011 to 2016, said Steven A. Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies (Associated press)

Immigration causes Medicaid enrollment spike, report shows

Nearly half the growth of Medicaid enrollment from 2011 to 2013 was due to immigration, according to a new study being released Thursday that argues the generous U.S. immigration system is straining the federal safety net.

November 13, 2014
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Voting Rights Act in Washington in July, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

NSA phone snooping ban set for Senate vote

Senate Democrats took the first steps Wednesday to set a final vote on a bill to halt the National Security Agency's phone snooping, signaling a developing consensus to try to shut down the program before the end of the year.

November 12, 2014